Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Stock Price

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on EXC. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Exelon from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Exelon Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of EXC stock traded up $0.41 on Tuesday, reaching $44.20. The company had a trading volume of 12,319,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,400,085. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.99 and a 200-day moving average of $39.27. Exelon has a 12 month low of $34.01 and a 12 month high of $44.46. The stock has a market cap of $44.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exelon will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at $479,597,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Exelon by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,618,055 shares of the company's stock worth $1,039,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483,873 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 46.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Exelon by 43.3% during 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 valued at $483,525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,878,687 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company's stock.

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.