Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,304 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $2,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Exelon by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,201,000 after acquiring an additional 14,158 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Exelon by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,624,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,158,000 after purchasing an additional 279,827 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Exelon by 431.3% during the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,051,000 after buying an additional 321,333 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 123,466 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position 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 buying an additional 2,156,259 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ EXC opened at $43.47 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $43.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. Exelon Co. has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $45.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.68.

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

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank lifted 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. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $59,353.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% 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.