Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Stake Increased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 509,947 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,493 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $19,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,945,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,048,823,000 after acquiring an additional 403,542 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 18.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,502 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 1.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,967,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,626,000 after acquiring an additional 160,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,729,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,280,000 after acquiring an additional 282,596 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC opened at $44.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $44.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.59 and its 200-day moving average is $39.84. Exelon Co. has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $45.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 earned $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

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.