Rhumbline Advisers Acquires 45,115 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,962,141 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 45,115 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Exelon were worth $73,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelon by 3.5% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Exelon by 1.0% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 28,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Exelon by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Exelon by 2.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in Exelon by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $42.85 on Monday. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $34.01 and a 12 month high of $43.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 9.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

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.