UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Stock

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) had its price target upped by UBS Group from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

EXC has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target 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 equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.40.

Exelon Stock Performance

EXC traded down $0.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $43.46. 7,448,056 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,358,958. The firm has a market cap of $43.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's fifty day moving average is $45.22 and its 200 day moving average is $42.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Exelon has a one year low of $34.01 and a one year high of $48.11.

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

Exelon Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelon

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Exelon in the fourth quarter worth about $479,597,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Exelon by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,618,055 shares of the company's stock worth $1,039,545,000 after purchasing an additional 7,483,873 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Exelon in the first quarter worth $285,428,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Exelon by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,306,652 shares of the company's stock worth $651,422,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524,103 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Exelon by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,846,030 shares of the company's stock worth $483,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,878,687 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.