Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,144,092 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,691 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $43,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its stake in Exelon by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Exelon during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Exelon by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $43.17 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $43.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon Co. has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $43.45.

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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.04%.

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.