Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Receives $44.63 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.13.

Several research firms recently weighed in on EXC. Barclays lifted their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank raised their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Exelon Stock Performance

EXC stock opened at $43.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.97.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released 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 return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exelon will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelon

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 10.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 8.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 20.8% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 39,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after buying an additional 6,789 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 16.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 1,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.