O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 37.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,051 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,094 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $2,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EXC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Exelon by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,792,903,000 after purchasing an additional 3,064,673 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Exelon by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,439,862,000 after buying an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,945,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,048,823,000 after buying an additional 403,542 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $479,597,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Exelon by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,729,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,280,000 after acquiring an additional 282,596 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EXC shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Exelon Stock Performance

Exelon stock opened at $47.23 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.32. 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 twelve month low of $34.01 and a twelve month high of $47.60. The company has a market capitalization of $47.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

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

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.