Norden Group LLC Invests $3.58 Million in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 66,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,584,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,665,677,000 after purchasing an additional 8,644,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,994,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,435 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,766,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,796,000 after acquiring an additional 261,426 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,171,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,345,000 after acquiring an additional 106,218 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,954,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,643,000 after acquiring an additional 86,696 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $52.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $65.62. The company has a market cap of $29.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $54.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.16.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

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.