Edison International (NYSE:EIX) Stock Price Up 5.5% After Dividend Announcement

Edison International (NYSE:EIX)’s share price shot up 5.5% on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $53.87 and last traded at $54.14. 534,074 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 6,186,142 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.34.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Edison International’s payout ratio is currently 97.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EIX. UBS Group raised shares of Edison International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Edison International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.50 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Guggenheim lowered Edison International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of Edison International in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Edison International in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edison International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.75.

Edison International Stock Up 6.0 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.38 and its 200 day moving average is $76.50. The company has a market capitalization of $21.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.03). Edison International had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 8.52%. The company had revenue of $17.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edison International will post 4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Edison International during the fourth quarter valued at about $323,443,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Edison International by 364.1% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,369,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,024,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,571 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Edison International by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,757,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $459,642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,016,017 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Edison International by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,800,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,898,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Edison International by 149.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,793,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.95% of the company’s stock.

About Edison International

Edison International, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation and distribution of electric power. The company supplies and delivers electricity to approximately 50,000 square mile area of southern California to residential, commercial, industrial, public authorities, agricultural, and other sectors.