Simon Quick Advisors LLC Acquires 832 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,101 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 566.3% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp boosted their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.50.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $66.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.88. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $73.38.

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

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a $0.5475 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.99%.

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.