Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Edison International (NYSE:EIX) Stock

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $48.00 to $52.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on EIX. UBS Group raised Edison International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Edison International in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Edison International from $94.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Edison International from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Edison International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.82.

Edison International Trading Up 0.7 %

EIX opened at $58.92 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. Edison International has a twelve month low of $49.06 and a twelve month high of $88.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.80.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last posted its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $17.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Edison International had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 8.52%. Analysts predict that Edison International will post 4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edison International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Edison International’s payout ratio is presently 100.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edison International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Edison International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $323,443,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Edison International by 364.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,643,571 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Edison International by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,757,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $459,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016,017 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Edison International by 8.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,800,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,898,638,000 after buying an additional 1,741,835 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Edison International by 149.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,793,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,057,000 after buying an additional 1,673,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.