Norinchukin Bank The Raises Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Norinchukin Bank The lifted its holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,578 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,572 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Exelon were worth $2,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,201,000 after acquiring an additional 14,158 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Exelon by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,624,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,158,000 after purchasing an additional 279,827 shares during the last quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at $2,274,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Exelon by 3.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,159,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,029,000 after buying an additional 36,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Exelon by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 22,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 2,160 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Price Performance

EXC stock opened at $47.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $48.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.81.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 posted $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EXC shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.63.

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.