Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Makes New Investment in Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC)

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 87,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,030,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 39,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 33,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Centre Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 7,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelon Stock Performance

Exelon stock opened at $44.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.94. The company has a market capitalization of $45.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. Exelon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $35.94 and a fifty-two week high of $48.11.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 11.16%. Exelon’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Exelon Corporation will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on EXC. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Exelon from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Exelon from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $47.00) on shares of Exelon in a report on Friday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.20.

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.