Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,292 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EXC. Antonetti Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 98.8% during the third quarter. Antonetti Capital Management LLC now owns 805 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 50.3% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 825 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Exelon during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Exelon by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EXC shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Exelon from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Exelon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Exelon from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Exelon from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.09.

Exelon Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Exelon stock opened at $35.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $35.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.25 and its 200 day moving average is $37.11. Exelon Co. has a twelve month low of $33.35 and a twelve month high of $43.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. Exelon had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

Exelon Company 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.