Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,154 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Exelon were worth $533,000 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 EXC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 109.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,608,000 after buying an additional 3,068,309 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,439,862,000 after buying an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 418.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,501,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,152,000 after buying an additional 2,018,604 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 18.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,782,000 after buying an additional 1,858,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 212.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,903,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,647,000 after buying an additional 1,293,753 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $42.85 on Friday. Exelon Co. has a 1-year low of $34.01 and a 1-year high of $43.45. The stock has a market cap of $43.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 9.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s payout ratio is 62.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.38.

Insider Activity at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Profile

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.