Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 653,627 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,662,037 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 653,627 shares during the period. Exelon makes up 1.4% of Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 2.45% of Exelon worth $928,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in Exelon by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in Exelon by 119.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays upped their price target 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. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.22.

Exelon Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXC opened at $45.21 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.45. Exelon Co. has a 12-month low of $34.01 and a 12-month high of $48.11. The company has a market capitalization of $45.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.43. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.30 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Exelon’s payout ratio is presently 59.48%.

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.