Candriam S.C.A. Boosts Stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,067 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,975 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $6,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Exelon by 109.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,608,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068,309 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Exelon by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Exelon by 418.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,501,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,152,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,604 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Exelon by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,502 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Exelon by 212.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,903,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,753 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Exelon Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Exelon stock opened at $43.11 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.49. Exelon Co. has a twelve month low of $34.01 and a twelve month high of $45.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon 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.