Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Sets New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $47.25 and last traded at $46.90, with a volume of 7677145 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $46.85.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on EXC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim set a $47.00 price objective on Exelon and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.67.

Exelon Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.18. The company has a market cap of $47.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelon

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $479,597,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Exelon by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,618,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,039,545,000 after purchasing an additional 7,483,873 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,306,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,422,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524,103 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,846,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,525,000 after buying an additional 3,878,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 109.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,608,000 after buying an additional 3,068,309 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.