Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Given New $42.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $42.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $39.82.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $37.79 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. Exelon has a twelve month low of $33.35 and a twelve month high of $42.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.51. The firm has a market cap of $37.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.52.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.07. Exelon had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Exelon will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.52%.

Institutional Trading of Exelon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Exelon by 247.5% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Exelon by 646.2% in the second 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 period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.