Compton Financial Group LLC Boosts Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Compton Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,618 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the quarter. Exelon accounts for about 0.1% of Compton Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Compton Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelon during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Exelon by 56.7% in the fourth 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. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $42.85 on Friday. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $34.01 and a 52 week high of $43.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $43.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.82 and a 200-day moving average of $38.93.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.55%.

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.