Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $46.20 and last traded at $45.61, with a volume of 1098742 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXC has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank raised 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.13.

Exelon Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $46.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.23.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelon

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXC. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Exelon during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelon by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Exelon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

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.