Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,792 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Exelon by 109.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068,309 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,174,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,390,000 after buying an additional 2,160,201 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Exelon by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,862,000 after buying an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Exelon by 18.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,502 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Price Performance

Exelon stock opened at $43.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.68. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $45.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Insider Activity at Exelon

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EXC. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank raised their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

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.