Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.33.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EXC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Exelon in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 16.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,310,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,956,525,000 after buying an additional 14,749,899 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Exelon by 112.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 31,527,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,184,483,000 after purchasing an additional 16,686,526 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Exelon by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,887,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,606,000 after purchasing an additional 113,428 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Exelon by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 4,374,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,623,000 after purchasing an additional 193,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 666.2% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,583,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,024,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115,763 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of Exelon stock opened at $40.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $40.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.49 and its 200-day moving average is $37.62. Exelon has a one year low of $33.35 and a one year high of $41.48.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 10.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Exelon will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.52%.

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.