Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Price Target Cut to $44.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on EXC. UBS Group increased their price objective on Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Exelon in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.25.

Exelon Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of EXC opened at $38.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Exelon has a 1 year low of $33.35 and a 1 year high of $41.42.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.47% and a net margin of 10.60%. Exelon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Exelon will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Exelon by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 190,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,594,000 after purchasing an additional 15,389 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exelon in the 1st quarter worth about $681,000. Andra AP fonden raised its position in shares of Exelon by 56.4% in the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 138,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,780,000 after purchasing an additional 49,800 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Exelon by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 57,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 14,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Exelon by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,390,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,249,000 after purchasing an additional 16,661 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Company 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.