Invesco Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 25.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,718,745 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,817,174 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 1.37% of Exelon worth $516,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EXC. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in Exelon by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company's stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in Exelon by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Exelon by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 18,505 shares of the company's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Exelon by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the company's stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on EXC shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.13.

Insider Transactions at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of Exelon stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Monday, hitting $46.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,711,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,158,030. The business's 50-day moving average is $43.81 and its 200 day moving average is $40.59. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $34.01 and a 12 month high of $48.11. The firm has a market cap of $47.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

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.