UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Stock Price

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) had its price target lifted by research analysts at UBS Group from $45.00 to $47.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.40% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.13.

Exelon Price Performance

Exelon stock traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.18. The company had a trading volume of 2,306,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,210,480. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.91. Exelon has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $45.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $44.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Exelon will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXC. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Exelon by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 14,158 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $61,158,000 after buying an additional 279,827 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Exelon by 2.0% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Exelon by 3.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% 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.