Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Invests $2.71 Million in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 72,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,710,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in Exelon by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Exelon by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in Exelon by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 18,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Exelon by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXC opened at $45.35 on Friday. Exelon Co. has a 1-year low of $34.01 and a 1-year high of $48.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. 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 that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EXC shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

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.