Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $46.20 and last traded at $45.61, with a volume of 1098742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Exelon Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.75 and a 200-day moving average of $40.23. 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 $46.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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 previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelon

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Exelon by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,792,903,000 after buying an additional 3,064,673 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.7% in the 3rd 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 37.2% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 7,483,873 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,314,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $988,080,000 after purchasing an additional 368,505 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 24,662,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,277,000 after purchasing an additional 653,627 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.