Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 37.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 359,076 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 97,153 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Exelon were worth $13,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 28,392 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company's stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company's stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 20,801 shares of the company's stock worth $843,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of 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 reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.13.

Exelon Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.20. 12,319,512 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,400,085. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50 day moving average is $40.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Exelon Co. has a one year low of $34.01 and a one year high of $44.46.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

Insider Activity at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.