Exelon Corporation $EXC Holdings Decreased by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors reduced its Exelon stake by 28.1% in the third quarter, selling 54,130 shares and retaining 138,531 shares valued at approximately $5.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.92% of Exelon.
• Exelon exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.87 in earnings per share versus the $0.79 consensus and $7.32 billion in revenue, up 9.2% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42, equivalent to an annualized $1.68 payout and a 3.6% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $48.58.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 28.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 138,531 shares of the company's stock after selling 54,130 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Exelon were worth $5,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Exelon in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,583,709,000. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelon in the second quarter worth about $922,917,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Exelon in the second quarter worth about $602,760,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the second quarter valued at approximately $580,842,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the second quarter valued at approximately $567,510,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $46.45 on Tuesday. Exelon Corporation has a 12-month low of $39.73 and a 12-month high of $50.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The company has a market cap of $47.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.59.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.76 billion. Exelon had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 9.81%. Exelon's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exelon Corporation will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Exelon in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a "hold" rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Exelon from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Exelon from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Exelon from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelon currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.58.

About Exelon

Exelon Corporation NASDAQ: EXC is a regulated utility holding company that delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company operates through six utility subsidiaries: Atlantic City Electric, Baltimore Gas and Electric, Commonwealth Edison, Delmarva Power, PECO and Pepco. Its businesses focus primarily on the transmission, distribution and delivery of energy rather than owning competitive power-generation operations.

Exelon's utilities serve customers across Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.

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