Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $45.20 and last traded at $43.68, with a volume of 9783005 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Exelon Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

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Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 posted $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is a boost from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Insider Activity at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon stock in a transaction on 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 owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelon

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Exelon by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company's stock worth $8,201,000 after buying an additional 14,158 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Exelon by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,624,805 shares of the company's stock worth $61,158,000 after acquiring an additional 279,827 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Exelon by 431.3% during the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,051,000 after acquiring an additional 321,333 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $261,402,000 after purchasing an additional 123,466 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Exelon by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company's stock worth $2,439,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company's stock.

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.