Allstate Corp Takes Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 30,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,140,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exelon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $479,597,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Exelon by 109.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,608,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068,309 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Exelon by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,792,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,064,673 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Exelon by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,174,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,390,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160,201 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake 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 worth $2,439,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of Exelon stock opened at $44.71 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. Exelon Co. has a twelve month low of $34.01 and a twelve month high of $45.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.15.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EXC shares. Scotiabank raised 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, February 13th. Guggenheim upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

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.