Argent Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in Edison International (NYSE:EIX)

Argent Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Edison International (NYSE:EIX) by 6.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 988 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Edison International were worth $1,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Edison International by 18.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edison International by 3.7% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 698,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,161,000 after acquiring an additional 24,939 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Edison International by 108.5% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 446,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,099,000 after acquiring an additional 232,621 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Edison International by 2.5% in the second quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 232,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,730,000 after purchasing an additional 5,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Edison International by 48.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 4,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. 88.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EIX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Edison International from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Mizuho upped their target price on Edison International from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Edison International from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Edison International from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Edison International from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.73.

Insider Transactions at Edison International

In other news, SVP Caroline Choi sold 10,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 26,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,039,576.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO J Andrew Murphy sold 1,362 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $115,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Choi sold 10,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 26,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,039,576.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,103 shares of company stock valued at $7,981,345 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Edison International Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:EIX traded up $0.53 on Friday, hitting $87.03. 3,531,662 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,996,064. The stock has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a PE ratio of 38.17 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.91 and a 200-day moving average of $73.33. Edison International has a fifty-two week low of $58.82 and a fifty-two week high of $87.49.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.18. Edison International had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 6.60%. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Edison International will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edison International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. Edison International’s payout ratio is 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.