Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

Exelon has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2% per year over the last three years. Exelon has a dividend payout ratio of 54.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Exelon to earn $2.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.8%.

Exelon Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC traded up $0.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $42.97. 7,562,077 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,660,265. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.84. The firm has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon has a 12-month low of $34.01 and a 12-month high of $43.45. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 9.47%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelon will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays cut 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% 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.