Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Raises Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 60,214 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,880 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Exelon were worth $2,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. American National Bank & Trust raised its position in Exelon by 178.8% during the 3rd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 697 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelon during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Exelon during the second quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on EXC shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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 boosted their target price on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.13.

Exelon Price Performance

EXC traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.38. 4,561,822 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,865,144. Exelon Co. has a 1-year low of $33.35 and a 1-year high of $41.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business's 50-day moving average price is $38.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.33.

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

Exelon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Exelon's payout ratio is currently 62.55%.

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.