Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.33.

Several analysts have weighed in on EXC shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Exelon in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXC opened at $40.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.54. The company has a market capitalization of $40.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Exelon has a twelve month low of $33.35 and a twelve month high of $41.48.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. Exelon had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 9.40%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Exelon will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelon

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 16.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,310,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,956,525,000 after buying an additional 14,749,899 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Exelon by 112.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 31,527,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,184,483,000 after buying an additional 16,686,526 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,887,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,606,000 after acquiring an additional 113,428 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 4.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 4,374,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,623,000 after buying an additional 193,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Exelon by 666.2% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,583,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,115,763 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.