Allstate Corp Buys Shares of 30,288 Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 30,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,140,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EXC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Exelon in the 4th quarter worth about $479,597,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 109.0% during the third 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. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,792,903,000 after buying an additional 3,064,673 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Exelon by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,174,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,390,000 after buying an additional 2,160,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Exelon by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,439,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.13.

Exelon Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXC opened at $44.71 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. Exelon Co. has a twelve month low of $34.01 and a twelve month high of $45.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.51 and a 200-day moving average of $40.15. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Exelon 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.