Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 63.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,598 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $65,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EXC. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in Exelon by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 4,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Exelon in the first quarter valued at about $54,000. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Exelon by 3.5% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 35,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Exelon by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 24,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,000 after buying an additional 5,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Exelon in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,461,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXC opened at $38.32 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Exelon Co. has a 52-week low of $33.35 and a 52-week high of $41.42.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.47% and a net margin of 10.60%. Exelon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EXC shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Exelon in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exelon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.33.

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.