SVB Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

SVB Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 52.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,994 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,761 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 293.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $31,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on XEL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $54.72 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.15. The company has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 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 announced its 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 business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.22%.

Xcel Energy 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.