Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Stock Price Up 2.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) rose 2.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $44.03 and last traded at $44.02. Approximately 3,203,320 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 7,417,182 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EXC shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Exelon Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.09. 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 $45.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given 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 dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Insider Transactions at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelon

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,201,000 after acquiring an additional 14,158 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Exelon by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,624,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,158,000 after buying an additional 279,827 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelon by 431.3% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,051,000 after buying an additional 321,333 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $2,439,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,274,000. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

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.