Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 97,153 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 37.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 359,076 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,153 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Exelon were worth $13,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $44.04 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.20. The stock has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $34.01 and a 52 week high of $44.24.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Exelon 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.