Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $47.03 Million Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,159,783 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,734 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Exelon worth $47,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EXC. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Exelon by 3.5% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Exelon by 1.0% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 28,392 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC lifted its stake in Exelon by 2.0% during the second quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 14,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Exelon by 2.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Exelon by 3.3% during the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EXC shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Exelon in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.33.

Exelon Stock Performance

Exelon stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $38.40. The company had a trading volume of 6,534,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,771,610. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $33.35 and a 52 week high of $41.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.69 and a 200-day moving average of $37.77. The firm has a market cap of $38.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. Exelon had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 9.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Exelon's payout ratio is 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.