KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires Shares of 946,144 Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 946,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,613,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 18,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Exelon Stock Down 1.8 %

Exelon stock opened at $43.80 on Friday. Exelon Co. has a twelve month low of $34.01 and a twelve month high of $45.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.