Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Antonetti Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 98.8% in the third quarter. Antonetti Capital Management LLC now owns 805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 50.3% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Exelon in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Exelon in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXC traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $37.79. 2,208,745 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,605,806. Exelon Co. has a 12-month low of $33.35 and a 12-month high of $43.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company has a market cap of $37.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.56 and a 200 day moving average of $37.10.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued 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. Exelon had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EXC shares. Bank of America reduced their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Exelon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Exelon from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. TheStreet cut shares of Exelon from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.