Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $44.26 and last traded at $44.06, with a volume of 11507104 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EXC shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Exelon Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.23.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Exelon’s payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelon

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 28,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 1.7% during the 4th 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. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.