Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Reaches New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $46.20 and last traded at $45.61, with a volume of 1098742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upped 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. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.13.

Exelon Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $479,597,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,618,055 shares of the company's stock worth $1,039,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483,873 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,306,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $651,422,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524,103 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,846,030 shares of the company's stock worth $483,525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,878,687 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Exelon by 109.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company's stock worth $238,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068,309 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.