Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $5 Million Investment in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 139,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,001,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Exelon by 5.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,018,881 shares of the company's stock worth $2,597,969,000 after purchasing an additional 3,271,744 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Exelon by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,894,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,232,236,000 after acquiring an additional 343,201 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Exelon by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,515,401 shares of the company's stock worth $773,655,000 after acquiring an additional 263,797 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Exelon by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,644,485 shares of the company's stock worth $477,837,000 after purchasing an additional 78,316 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Exelon by 3.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,665,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $440,852,000 after purchasing an additional 395,908 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of EXC stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.48. 4,985,001 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,933,086. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $36.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.13. Exelon Co. has a 12-month low of $33.35 and a 12-month high of $43.71. The stock has a market cap of $36.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.87 billion. Exelon had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 9.40%. Exelon's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. This is an increase from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EXC shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Exelon from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Exelon from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exelon from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exelon presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.09.

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.