Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Hits New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $43.48 and last traded at $43.46, with a volume of 2057343 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EXC shares. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.13.

Exelon Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50 day moving average price is $39.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.15.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. 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 3.63%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Insider Transactions at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Exelon by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,792,903,000 after buying an additional 3,064,673 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Exelon by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,439,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 purchasing an additional 7,483,873 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Exelon by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,314,296 shares of the company's stock worth $988,080,000 after purchasing an additional 368,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Exelon by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 24,662,037 shares of the company's stock valued at $928,277,000 after purchasing an additional 653,627 shares during the period. 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.