Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 15,691 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,144,092 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,691 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Exelon worth $43,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXC. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 12,048 shares of the company's stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640 shares during the last quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. increased its position in Exelon by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. now owns 10,184 shares of the company's stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 22,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Exelon by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 22,612 shares of the company's stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EXC. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.38.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of EXC traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $43.35. The stock had a trading volume of 8,052,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,125,712. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $43.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $39.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.15. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $34.01 and a 52 week high of $44.01.

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

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Exelon Company 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.