CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Stock Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lessened its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 8.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,801 shares of the company’s stock after selling 876 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Exelon were worth $397,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Exelon by 49.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,141,000 after buying an additional 36,548 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Exelon during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Exelon by 105.5% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 34,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,281,000 after buying an additional 17,503 shares during the last quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Exelon during the first quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, True Link Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Exelon during the first quarter worth about $256,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Exelon in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.33.

Exelon Price Performance

EXC stock opened at $40.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.49 and a 200-day moving average of $37.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $33.35 and a 12 month high of $41.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07. Exelon had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The business had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. Exelon’s payout ratio is presently 65.52%.

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.