South Dakota Investment Council Has $5.97 Million Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

South Dakota Investment Council cut its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 166,274 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,300 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Exelon were worth $5,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Exelon by 1.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,676,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $819,164,000 after acquiring an additional 286,435 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,644,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,837,000 after buying an additional 78,316 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,665,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $440,852,000 after buying an additional 395,908 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,069,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,538,000 after buying an additional 1,092,736 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,744,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,079,000 after buying an additional 103,479 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of EXC traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $37.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,208,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,605,806. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $33.35 and a 52 week high of $43.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. Exelon had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on EXC. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Exelon from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut shares of Exelon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Exelon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Exelon from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exelon has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.92.

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.