Davidson Investment Advisors Increases Stock Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Davidson Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 377,845 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Exelon were worth $14,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in Exelon by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 30,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 6,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Exelon by 438.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 4,745 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Exelon by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 322,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,141,000 after acquiring an additional 12,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelon by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 9,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 2,423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price target 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 lowered their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.38.

Exelon Stock Performance

EXC stock opened at $42.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $43.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.97.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 9.47%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.