Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,001,979 shares of the company’s stock after selling 145,143 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.70% of Exelon worth $251,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Exelon by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 192,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,895,000 after purchasing an additional 88,614 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Exelon by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,096,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,968,000 after purchasing an additional 277,635 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Exelon by 225.3% in the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 122,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,380,000 after purchasing an additional 84,498 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Exelon by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 464,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,660,000 after purchasing an additional 91,088 shares during the period. Finally, Principle Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Exelon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,639,000. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ EXC traded down $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.29. The company had a trading volume of 958,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,563,033. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.40 and its 200-day moving average is $36.90. The company has a market cap of $38.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.53. Exelon Co. has a one year low of $33.35 and a one year high of $43.53.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EXC. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Exelon from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Exelon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Scotiabank cut their price target 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, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Exelon from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.83.

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.