Hennessy Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,231 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $5,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Exelon by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Exelon by 1.0% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 28,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Exelon by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ledyard National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 6,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Exelon presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.38.

Exelon Stock Up 0.2 %

EXC opened at $39.42 on Friday. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $33.35 and a 52 week high of $41.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $39.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.04. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.47% and a net margin of 10.60%. The business had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Exelon’s payout ratio is 62.55%.

About Exelon

Exelon Corporation, a utility services holding company, engages in the energy distribution and transmission businesses in the United States and Canada. The company is involved in the purchase and regulated retail sale of electricity and natural gas, transmission and distribution of electricity, and distribution of natural gas to retail customers.