Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Reaches New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.85.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on EXC. Guggenheim set a $47.00 price target on Exelon and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of 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 raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.67.

Exelon Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $45.01 and its 200 day moving average is $41.23. The stock has a market cap of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.02, 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.06. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $479,597,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,039,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483,873 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,306,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,422,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524,103 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Exelon by 43.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,846,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,878,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Exelon by 109.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068,309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.