Exelon Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:EXC)

Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 4,662 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 175% compared to the typical volume of 1,695 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Exelon by 247.5% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelon in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exelon during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Exelon by 646.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Exelon in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXC opened at $40.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.05. The stock has a market cap of $40.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53. Exelon has a one year low of $33.35 and a one year high of $41.48.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. Exelon had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 9.40%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Exelon will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Exelon from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Exelon in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.83.

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.