Bailard Inc. Purchases 451 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Bailard Inc. increased its position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,092 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exelon during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Exelon during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exelon Price Performance

NASDAQ EXC opened at $43.68 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $43.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $34.01 and a 52 week high of $45.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.44.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued 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 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on EXC. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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 upgraded shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

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.