Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC)

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 3,579 put options on the company. This is an increase of 53% compared to the average daily volume of 2,332 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim set a $47.00 target price on shares of Exelon and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.67.

Insider Transactions at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelon

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXC. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Exelon during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Exelon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $46.48. 7,142,410 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,271,793. Exelon has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $48.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $44.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Exelon will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Exelon's payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.