Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Purchases 18,550 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 175.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,147 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,550 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 168.4% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 202.2% in the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $81.00 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.61. The stock has a market cap of $50.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.60.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.