Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Receives $44.63 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.13.

EXC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelon

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Exelon during the 4th quarter worth about $479,597,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,618,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483,873 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,306,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,422,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524,103 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,846,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,878,687 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Exelon by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068,309 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exelon Trading Down 1.9 %

Exelon stock opened at $42.76 on Friday. Exelon has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $45.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.19 and its 200-day moving average is $40.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $43.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Exelon will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

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.