Hartree Partners LP Purchases Shares of 53,000 Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Hartree Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 53,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EXC. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its position in Exelon by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in Exelon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 119.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelon Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ EXC opened at $44.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. Exelon Co. has a one year low of $34.01 and a one year high of $45.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EXC. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelon currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.13.

Exelon 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.