Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,556 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 900 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Exelon were worth $3,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Antonetti Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exelon during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelon during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Exelon in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on EXC. TheStreet lowered shares of Exelon from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Exelon from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Exelon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Exelon from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Exelon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.92.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $37.67 on Tuesday. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $33.35 and a 1 year high of $43.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.11.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. Exelon had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 4.04%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.24%.

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.