Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $46.20 and last traded at $45.61, with a volume of 1098742 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on EXC shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Exelon Stock Up 2.9 %

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 company has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.15.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 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 previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Exelon during the 4th quarter valued at $355,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $12,066,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,586,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Exelon during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. 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.