Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC boosted its position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 80.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,029 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,111 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $4,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Exelon by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,439,862,000 after buying an additional 2,156,259 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position 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 worth $94,152,000 after buying an additional 2,018,604 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 18.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,782,000 after buying an additional 1,858,502 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 212.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,903,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,753 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Exelon

In other Exelon 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 transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Exelon Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:EXC opened at $44.04 on Wednesday. Exelon Co. has a one year low of $34.01 and a one year high of $44.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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 prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on EXC shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley cut 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. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently 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.