Morgan Stanley Cuts Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Price Target to $44.00

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $44.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on EXC. Barclays boosted their price target on Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Exelon in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.25.

Exelon Price Performance

NASDAQ EXC opened at $38.71 on Friday. Exelon has a one year low of $33.35 and a one year high of $41.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.64 and a 200 day moving average of $37.83. The company has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Exelon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Exelon will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXC. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,439,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,945,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,048,823,000 after acquiring an additional 403,542 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,502 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,967,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,626,000 after acquiring an additional 160,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,402,000 after acquiring an additional 123,466 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.