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Summary

  • Guggenheim upgraded its rating on Exelon Corp from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’, despite the utilities sector reporting slower growth as compared to the broader market.
  • The consensus mean price target on Exelon is US$ 45.39, which is 10.82% higher than Friday’s closing price of US$ 40.96.
  • Guggenheim states that the utilities group has lagged the broader market by 24% in the first half of 2023 but is still not cheap enough to be bought as a basket.

Equity analyst Guggenheim has upgraded Exelon Corp to a ‘buy’ rating, despite the utilities sector reporting slower growth as compared to the broader market. Exelon is a utilities sector company that operates through six fully regulated distribution channels.

Data available on EODHD/Others suggests that Guggenheim has a mean recommendation rating of 2.2 on a scale of one to five. Among the eighteen analysts that have covered EXC, four recommend a ‘strong buy’ rating on it, seven recommend a ‘buy’ rating and six recommend a ‘hold’ rating on it. One of the analysts has suggested selling the stock, while none of the analysts have given it a ‘strong sell’ rating.

Exelon has a consensus mean price target of US$ 45.39, as on July 10, 2023. This marks an upside of 10.82% on Exelon’s closing price on Friday, July 7, 2023.

EXC Price Chart; Image Source: EODHD/Others

EXC closed at US$ 40.96 on Friday, July 7, 2023. The stock hit its 52-week high of US$47.23 on August 16, 2022.

Higher-than-average growth trajectory behind rating upgrade

As per a EODHD/Others report, Guggenheim believes that Exelon has higher growth trajectory than its peers. Based on this fact, Guggenheim has upgraded its rating on Exelon from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’.

Alongside this, Guggenheim has also given a review of the wider utilities sector. As per the broker, the utilities sector has lagged the broader market by 24% in the first half of 2023. Even in these circumstances, Guggenheim believes that the utilities group is not cheap enough to be bought as a basket.

Image source: ©2023 Kalkine®; Data source: EODHD/Others

Company-specific factors are more impactful on relative valuations among the utilities group. Additionally, companies in the sector have been affected by slow economic conditions for the first half of this year.

The company reported a net income of US$ 0.67 per share and operating earnings of US$ 0.70 per share in Q1 2023.

What are other analysts saying about Exelon?  

Apart from Guggenheim, Argus Research upgraded Exelon to a ‘buy’ rating in its review of the stock on June 20, 2023. Meanwhile, four other analysts also upgraded EXC to a ‘moderate buy’ rating in the month of June. Evercore ISI maintained its ‘outperform rating on Exelon, with a price target of US$ 46.

Alternatively, Wells Fargo reduced the stock to an ‘equal weight’ rating on June 30, 2023, with a price target of US$ 45. Scotiabank also downgraded the stock to a ‘sector perform’ rating on June 12, 2023, with a price target of US$ 44.

Guggenheim had given Exelon a price target of US$ 45, which is 9.86% higher than Friday’s closing price of US$ 40.96.