Morgan Stanley Cuts Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Price Target to $44.00

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $44.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Exelon from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Exelon in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.25.

Exelon Trading Down 1.5 %

Exelon stock opened at $38.71 on Friday. Exelon has a one year low of $33.35 and a one year high of $41.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.64 and its 200 day moving average is $37.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. Exelon had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 9.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Exelon will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,439,862,000 after buying an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Exelon by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,945,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,048,823,000 after acquiring an additional 403,542 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Exelon by 18.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,502 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Exelon by 1.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,967,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,626,000 after purchasing an additional 160,313 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,402,000 after purchasing an additional 123,466 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Company 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.