Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Purchased by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,625 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of XEL. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 69,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,677,000 after buying an additional 13,658 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 49,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,368,000 after purchasing an additional 9,110 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,194 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 955,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,747,000 after purchasing an additional 106,878 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Xcel Energy

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

XEL opened at $70.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $51.97 and a one year high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $68.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released 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 return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 3.22%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.28%.

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.