Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 94.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,334 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,418 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Exelon were worth $652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American National Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Exelon by 178.8% in the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 697 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Exelon in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Exelon by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Exelon in the second quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Exelon by 92.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EXC. Barclays decreased their price target on Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.13.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.24. The company had a trading volume of 5,944,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,958,856. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $33.35 and a 52-week high of $41.19. The stock has a market cap of $39.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.55. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $38.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.32.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.47% and a net margin of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.55%.

Exelon Company 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.