Bailard Inc. Has $709,000 Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 93.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,749 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,515 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 192,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,895,000 after purchasing an additional 88,614 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 225.3% in the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 122,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,380,000 after purchasing an additional 84,498 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 464,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,660,000 after purchasing an additional 91,088 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 12.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,069,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,001,000. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on EXC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Exelon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Exelon from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 19th. Mizuho upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Exelon from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Exelon from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.92.

Exelon Price Performance

Exelon stock opened at $37.32 on Friday. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $33.35 and a 12 month high of $43.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $36.74 and its 200-day moving average is $37.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company has a market capitalization of $37.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.87 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 10.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

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.