HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 4,974 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258,766 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $9,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EXC. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Exelon by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,201,000 after acquiring an additional 14,158 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Exelon by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,624,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,158,000 after acquiring an additional 279,827 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Exelon by 431.3% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,051,000 after acquiring an additional 321,333 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Exelon by 2.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,402,000 after acquiring an additional 123,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Exelon by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on EXC. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXC opened at $44.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. Exelon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.01 and a fifty-two 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.45 and a 200-day moving average of $39.80.

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

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date 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 3.60%. Exelon’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Exelon 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.