Capital Analysts LLC Boosts Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Capital Analysts LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 293.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 433 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $1,851,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 179,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,103,000 after buying an additional 17,003 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $234,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 266.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 5,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 3,981 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $54.72 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $71.32. The stock has a market cap of $30.40 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This is a positive change 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 4.01%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

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.