Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Given New $44.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) had its price objective raised by Scotiabank from $42.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on EXC. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelon presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.38.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC stock opened at $42.97 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $43.45.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.47% and a net margin of 10.60%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exelon will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Exelon’s payout ratio is 62.55%.

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 value of $59,353.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelon

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $479,597,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Exelon by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,306,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,422,000 after buying an additional 5,524,103 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Exelon by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,608,000 after buying an additional 3,068,309 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Exelon by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,792,903,000 after buying an additional 3,064,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,718,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817,174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

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.