Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Takes Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 149,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,043,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,310,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,956,525,000 after acquiring an additional 14,749,899 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Exelon by 10.5% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,645,737 shares of the company's stock worth $61,830,000 after buying an additional 156,201 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 8.8% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 190,537 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,594,000 after purchasing an additional 15,389 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Exelon during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,461,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelon during the first quarter valued at approximately $681,000. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelon Stock Performance

Exelon stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.32. The stock had a trading volume of 8,624,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,782,431. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $39.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.75. The company has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.04. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.47% and a net margin of 10.60%. 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 previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Exelon's payout ratio is currently 62.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EXC shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Exelon in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.33.

Exelon 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.