Lazard Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,662,037 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 653,627 shares during the period. Exelon comprises about 1.4% of Lazard Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 2.45% of Exelon worth $928,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Exelon by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company's stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in Exelon by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 18,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Exelon by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the company's stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EXC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. KeyCorp downgraded Exelon from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $39.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $47.30.

Exelon Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC traded up $1.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.43. 8,463,150 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,272,550. Exelon Co. has a 12-month low of $34.01 and a 12-month high of $48.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market cap of $43.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.49.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.30 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. Exelon's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.48%.

About Exelon

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.