Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

Exelon has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2% per year over the last three years. Exelon has a dividend payout ratio of 54.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Exelon to earn $2.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.8%.

Exelon Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXC traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $42.97. 7,561,791 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,660,225. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $43.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.62 and a 200 day moving average of $38.84.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.47% and a net margin of 10.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Exelon will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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 raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.