Allstate Corp Invests $1.72 Million in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 21,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,262,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,788,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157,602 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,719,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,274,799,000 after buying an additional 1,746,066 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,366,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,653,000 after buying an additional 1,654,505 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 2,324.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,716,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,884,000 after buying an additional 1,645,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 100.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,519,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,548,000 after buying an additional 1,261,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.8%

XEL stock opened at $76.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $76.45 and its 200-day moving average is $75.68. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $83.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.46.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.08). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 13.46%.The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 29th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on XEL shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $86.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.00.

Xcel Energy Company 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.