Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Grows Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 927,860 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,351 shares during the period. Exelon accounts for 0.7% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Exelon were worth $33,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Exelon by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 93,146,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,343,945,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352,547 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Exelon by 0.6% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,644,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,837,000 after buying an additional 78,316 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter worth $382,015,000. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 9,711,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,639,000 after purchasing an additional 274,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Exelon by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,853,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,145,000 after purchasing an additional 109,263 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exelon Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:EXC traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $34.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,614,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,018,921. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.59 and a 200-day moving average of $36.20. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $33.35 and a 1 year high of $43.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 10.44%. Equities research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EXC shares. Barclays increased their price target on Exelon from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exelon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Exelon presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.91.

About Exelon

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.