Empirical Finance LLC Boosts Stock Position in Edison International (NYSE:EIX)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in Edison International (NYSE:EIX) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Edison International were worth $969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cohen Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Edison International by 0.5% in the first quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Edison International by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Edison International by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Edison International by 0.3% in the first quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 54,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,864,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in Edison International by 2.3% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,605,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $962,287,000 after purchasing an additional 305,459 shares during the last quarter. 88.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO J Andrew Murphy sold 58,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.01, for a total value of $4,358,005.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,696.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO J Andrew Murphy sold 58,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.01, for a total transaction of $4,358,005.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,696.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Choi sold 10,004 shares of Edison International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.77, for a total value of $758,003.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 26,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,039,576.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,897 shares of company stock valued at $5,851,245 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Edison International in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Edison International from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Edison International from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Edison International from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Edison International from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edison International presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Edison International Stock Performance

EIX stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $74.84. 1,474,640 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,027,949. Edison International has a 1-year low of $58.82 and a 1-year high of $77.04. The firm has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. Edison International had a net margin of 6.14% and a return on equity of 12.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Edison International will post 4.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edison International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Edison International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.84%.

Edison International Profile

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.