Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.63.

A number of brokerages have commented on EXC. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelon

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXC. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,201,000 after buying an additional 14,158 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Exelon by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,624,805 shares of the company's stock worth $61,158,000 after purchasing an additional 279,827 shares during the last quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $2,274,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Exelon by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,159,783 shares of the company's stock worth $47,029,000 after buying an additional 36,734 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Exelon by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 22,612 shares of the company's stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 2,160 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Trading Up 1.6 %

Exelon stock traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.26. The stock had a trading volume of 7,496,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,232,880. Exelon has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $48.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.35 and a 200 day moving average of $40.81. The firm has a market cap of $47.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

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

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

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.