During the first week of July we closed our long suffering position in Exelon. Our fundamental investment thesis on Exelon centered on the power generating company’s leverage to increased industrial demand as the U.S. economy exited the 2008-2009 recession, coupled with an increase in natural gas prices which would limit supply and provide improved pricing … Read more
Exelon is one of the cleanest power producers in the country with about half its power generation fleet being nuclear, a quarter of its fleet coming from natural gas, and nearly 10% of hydro, wind, and solar. Last year Exelon merged with Constellation Energy, another utility company. The merger was marginally negative. Additionally, lower power … Read more
Exelon generates nearly one-quarter of the country’s nuclear power. The United States has not seen a new nuclear power plant built in three decades, and construction of one takes close to a decade, so current operators face little by way of new competition. Nuclear power is cheap to generate, which has historically left the business … Read more
Last week Exelon reported third-quarter earnings per share of $0.77, down from $1.12 in the third quarter of 2011. This decrease in earnings was expected. Operating earnings through the first nine months remain on track to meet management’s 2012 earnings guidance. Additionally, there was even a bit of good news when Exelon management provided better … Read more
Over the past ten years, the price of natural gas has averaged $6 per Mcf. The price today is $1.95. We would estimate that the logical price is perhaps in the $6.00 range, which is still materially below the historical relationship of 10% the price of oil. The 10-year moving average ratio of the price … Read more
Exelon’s financial performance depends on highly volatile power prices that fluctuate based on natural gas prices, coal prices and regional electricity demand. Since 2008, a shale-driven glut of natural gas has cut electricity prices for the U.S. power industry by 50%. With abundant new supplies of gas making it the cheapest option for new power … Read more
The Japanese earthquake and tsunami has had an impact primarily on one position in the portfolio — Exelon Corporation. Exelon is a utility holding company that derives about 65% of its profits from its merchant generating fleet of nuclear plant reactors. The company’s stock has dropped about $4 or 8% since last Friday’s earthquake in … Read more
On August 31st Exelon announced the purchase of Deere & Company’s wind development unit for a little more than $1,170 a kilowatt along with tax credits and projects already under development: Exelon News Release Many power plants, not just wind, now sell for below replacement cost due to low wholesale power demand. However, existing wind … Read more
With Exelon’s stock down a little more than 12% on the year, we thought it would be helpful to quickly outline our investment thesis behind our investment. Exelon operates the largest nuclear power fleet in the U.S. and is the third-largest in the world. Exelon generates power for more than 6 million homes in Illinois, … Read more
Exelon Corp. is one of the largest, most respected utilities in the world with a market capitalization typically north of $30 billion. However, for a brief moment on Thursday, the stock market said it was worthless. Exelon was just one of a number of stocks that produced bizarre market quotes during the “Flash Crash” of … Read more