Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 36,734 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,159,783 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,734 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Exelon worth $47,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Exelon by 431.3% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,051,000 after buying an additional 321,333 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,402,000 after acquiring an additional 123,466 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden raised its stake in Exelon by 56.4% in the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 138,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,780,000 after acquiring an additional 49,800 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Exelon by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Exelon by 19.0% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 140,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,865,000 after purchasing an additional 22,463 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelon Stock Performance

EXC opened at $37.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. Exelon Co. has a 52-week low of $33.35 and a 52-week high of $41.19. The firm has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.73 and its 200-day moving average is $37.85.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.04. Exelon had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 9.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Exelon’s payout ratio is presently 62.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Exelon in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.00.

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.