Nomura Holdings Inc. Invests $12.29 Million in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 342,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,286,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Exelon by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 93,146,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,343,945,000 after buying an additional 2,352,547 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Exelon by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,644,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,837,000 after purchasing an additional 78,316 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Exelon by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,665,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,852,000 after purchasing an additional 395,908 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Exelon during the 4th quarter worth $382,015,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Exelon by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,069,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,736 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXC opened at $34.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.52. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $33.35 and a 52 week high of $43.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.50. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. Exelon had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 9.27%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EXC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Exelon from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised Exelon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Exelon from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.09.

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.