First Horizon Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,810 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Exelon by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in Exelon by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 1.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 20,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Guggenheim upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five 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, Exelon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was 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 the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $44.04 on Wednesday. Exelon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.01 and a fifty-two week high of $44.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.20. The company has a market capitalization of $44.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

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.