ING Groep NV Increases Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 2,081.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 372,814 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 355,721 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Exelon were worth $14,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 14,158 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 20.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 431.3% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,051,000 after purchasing an additional 321,333 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,402,000 after purchasing an additional 123,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC opened at $43.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Exelon Co. has a 1-year low of $34.01 and a 1-year high of $43.45. The company has a market capitalization of $43.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.05.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 62.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on EXC. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exelon currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.38.

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.