Avestar Capital LLC Buys 508 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,575 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of Exelon by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Exelon in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in Exelon during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Exelon during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Exelon by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Exelon stock opened at $42.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.93. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $43.45.

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

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.