Point72 Asset Management L.P. Increases Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 187.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,829,425 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,192,049 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $123,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,407,000 after acquiring an additional 10,939 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $1,433,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on XEL. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group upped 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, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

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

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $68.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.61. The company has a market capitalization of $39.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $51.97 and a one year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.