Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Stock Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,469,730 shares of the company’s stock after selling 371,563 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Exelon were worth $507,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Exelon by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Exelon in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Exelon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelon by 119.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Insider Transactions at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon 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 directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of Exelon stock opened at $44.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $34.01 and a 12 month high of $44.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.20.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

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.