Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Holdings Lifted by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 96.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,073 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,936 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL stock opened at $53.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.24. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The stock has a market cap of $29.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The company had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 68.22%.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, purchasing, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar energy sources, as well as coal, natural gas, oil, wood, and refuse-derived fuels.