Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,267 Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,339,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 28,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,850,000 after buying an additional 6,225 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 124,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,160,000 after buying an additional 5,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Asset Management LLC VA acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

XEL opened at $69.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.86. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.37 and a 12 month high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. On average, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 66.28%.

Insider Transactions at Xcel Energy

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on XEL. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.10.

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.