Edison International $EIX Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Edison International (NYSE:EIX) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 419,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 21,707 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Edison International worth $23,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Edison International during the second quarter worth about $268,801,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Edison International by 83.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,962,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $510,649,000 after buying an additional 4,534,864 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Edison International by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,470,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,655,858,000 after buying an additional 2,386,562 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Edison International by 237.2% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,904,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,276,000 after buying an additional 1,339,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Edison International by 109.6% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,314,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209,964 shares during the last quarter. 88.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edison International Stock Performance

Edison International stock opened at $64.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.25. Edison International has a 1-year low of $47.73 and a 1-year high of $64.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

Edison International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.8775 per share. This represents a $3.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. This is a positive change from Edison International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 7th. Edison International’s payout ratio is 45.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EIX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lifted their price target on Edison International from $52.50 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Edison International from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Edison International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Edison International in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Edison International in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $71.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.30.

Edison International Company Profile

Edison International is a publicly traded utility holding company based in Rosemead, California, whose principal subsidiary is Southern California Edison (SCE). As an electric utility holding company, Edison International oversees the delivery of electricity through SCE’s integrated network of generation procurement, transmission and distribution infrastructure, serving millions of customers across central, coastal and southern California. The company’s operations focus on reliable energy delivery, customer service, regulatory compliance and long-term infrastructure planning for a complex and high-demand service territory.

The company’s activities include procuring and managing a diverse resource mix, maintaining and upgrading transmission and distribution systems, and implementing grid modernization projects.