Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Stock Price

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $44.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

EXC has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Exelon in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.25.

Exelon Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ EXC traded down $0.60 on Friday, hitting $38.71. 4,038,976 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,739,171. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.64 and a 200 day moving average of $37.83. Exelon has a twelve month low of $33.35 and a twelve month high of $41.42. The company has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Exelon will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelon

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXC. American National Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 178.8% in the 3rd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 697 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Exelon by 646.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 776 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Exelon during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Exelon in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake in Exelon by 502.7% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 892 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.