Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday.

EXC has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Exelon from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Exelon from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Exelon from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Exelon from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Exelon from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $39.09.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC stock opened at $37.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Exelon has a fifty-two week low of $33.35 and a fifty-two week high of $43.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $35.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.44. The firm has a market cap of $37.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.87 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 10.72%. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Analysts predict that Exelon will post 2.41 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 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. 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 dividend yield of 4.07%. Exelon’s payout ratio is 65.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 247.5% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Antonetti Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 raised its holdings 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 in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Exelon by 263.8% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.