Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Position Increased by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,652 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 579 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $4,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 8,644,054 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,521,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,059,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559,321 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,504,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,414,000 after acquiring an additional 583,318 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,739,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,396,000 after purchasing an additional 90,819 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Xcel Energy by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,303,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,440,000 after purchasing an additional 550,508 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on XEL. Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $54.96 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.15. The company has a market capitalization of $30.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.36.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.22%.

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.