Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $43.48 and last traded at $43.46, with a volume of 2057343 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EXC. Guggenheim upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank increased their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.38.

Exelon Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.28 and its 200 day moving average is $39.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Insider Activity at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 3,064,673 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Exelon by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,618,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483,873 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Exelon by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,314,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,080,000 after purchasing an additional 368,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Exelon by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 24,662,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,277,000 after acquiring an additional 653,627 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

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.