Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 84.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 143,336 shares of the company's stock after selling 755,505 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Exelon were worth $5,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EXC. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 120,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,873,000 after purchasing an additional 2,827 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Exelon in the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 13.0% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 9,118 shares of the company's stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Exelon by 4.2% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 71,223 shares of the company's stock worth $2,888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Exelon by 1.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 99,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exelon Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of Exelon stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $47.78. 2,580,669 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,188,838. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. Exelon Co. has a twelve month low of $34.01 and a twelve month high of $48.11.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.40 dividend. 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 3.35%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on EXC. Barclays raised their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and set a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelon currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.63.

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.