Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 97,153 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 37.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 359,076 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 97,153 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Exelon were worth $13,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXC. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Exelon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Exelon during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 119.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EXC shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of EXC stock opened at $44.04 on Wednesday. Exelon Co. has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $44.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.20.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Exelon 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.