National Pension Service Increases Stake in Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC) by 1.2%, now holding approximately 1.37 million shares worth about $63.3 million.
• Exelon recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, yielding 3.6%, with the payout ratio standing at 60.84%.
• Equities analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" for Exelon, with a target price of $47.20, indicating mixed expectations for the company's near-term performance.

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,374,676 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 16,590 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.14% of Exelon worth $63,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXC. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Exelon during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in Exelon by 46.4% during the 1st quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 694 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in Exelon during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Exelon during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Exelon during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EXC shares. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Exelon from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Exelon in a research report on Friday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Exelon from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $47.20.

Exelon Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of EXC opened at $44.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.56 and a 200 day moving average of $43.91. Exelon Corporation has a 52-week low of $35.94 and a 52-week high of $48.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 11.16%. Exelon's revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Exelon Corporation will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.84%.

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.

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