Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Trims Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 32.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,012 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,295 shares during the quarter. Exelon comprises about 2.3% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Exelon were worth $4,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Exelon by 2.9% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 354,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,409,000 after buying an additional 9,945 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in Exelon by 23.3% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 119,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,519,000 after buying an additional 22,589 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in Exelon by 23.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 494,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,682,000 after buying an additional 94,373 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC grew its position in Exelon by 334.6% during the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Exelon by 32.5% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 23,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 5,782 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EXC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Exelon from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised Exelon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Exelon from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Exelon from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.91.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 259,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,843,459. The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.89 and a 200-day moving average of $36.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $34.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.52. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $33.35 and a 12 month high of $43.53.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.01). Exelon had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $6.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. Exelon’s payout ratio is presently 65.52%.

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.