Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Boosts Stock Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 914,509 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,980 shares during the period. Exelon accounts for about 0.7% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.09% of Exelon worth $32,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EXC. Antonetti Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Exelon by 98.8% during the 3rd quarter. Antonetti Capital Management LLC now owns 805 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Exelon by 50.3% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 825 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelon in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Exelon during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet cut Exelon from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Exelon from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.83.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXC traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.65. The company had a trading volume of 4,615,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,520,543. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Exelon Co. has a twelve month low of $33.35 and a twelve month high of $43.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.87 billion. Exelon had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.52%.

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.