Eastern Bank Grows Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 36.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,268 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 3,461.0% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 21,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after buying an additional 21,147 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.6% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 93,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,994,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth about $266,000. Wealthspire Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on XEL. KeyCorp raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.67.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Xcel Energy stock opened at $63.62 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.30. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The company has a market cap of $36.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 64.99%.

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.