Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.13.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EXC. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Exelon Stock Performance

Exelon stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.94. 1,930,245 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,214,156. Exelon has a fifty-two week low of $33.35 and a fifty-two week high of $41.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $40.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.49.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $5.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Exelon will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Exelon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Exelon by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its position in shares of Exelon by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 12,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 4,705 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Exelon by 89.1% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,539 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Exelon by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 385,550 shares of the company's stock worth $14,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,575 shares of the company's stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.