Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Makes New $225,000 Investment in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 5,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EXC. State Street Corp increased its position 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelon by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,945,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,048,823,000 after purchasing an additional 403,542 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Exelon by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,502 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Exelon by 1.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,967,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,626,000 after purchasing an additional 160,313 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Exelon by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,729,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,280,000 after purchasing an additional 282,596 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank lifted 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, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Exelon Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC opened at $44.19 on Friday. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $34.01 and a 52 week high of $45.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.73. The company has a market cap of $44.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Exelon 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.