Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 17.08% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on EXC. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Exelon from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Exelon from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.33.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of Exelon stock traded down $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $39.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,675,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,822,318. 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 1 year low of $33.35 and a 1 year high of $41.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.01. The company has a market capitalization of $39.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 10.65%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelon will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Black Diamond Financial LLC increased its position in Exelon by 2.0% during the second quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 14,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Exelon by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Exelon by 8.9% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 4,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.