HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 4,974 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 258,766 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $9,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Exelon by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 14,158 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Exelon by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,624,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,158,000 after purchasing an additional 279,827 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Exelon by 431.3% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,051,000 after purchasing an additional 321,333 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Exelon by 2.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,402,000 after purchasing an additional 123,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Exelon by 3.7% during the third 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. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC opened at $44.39 on Tuesday. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $45.20. The company has a market cap of $44.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.45 and its 200 day moving average is $39.80.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EXC shares. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelon presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

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.