Royal Bank of Canada Has $217.81 Million Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,225,852 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 296,467 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $217,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,401,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,306,380 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 118.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,608,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,581,436 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 236.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,878,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429,353 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 379.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,022,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182,939 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $72.38 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $51.97 and a one year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The business’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 company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Three 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.