Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,258 Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,448 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,091,000 after purchasing an additional 262,191 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,777,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,023,000 after purchasing an additional 11,529 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,625,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 208,233 shares during the period. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $69.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The firm has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.05.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on XEL. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.30.

Xcel Energy Company 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.