Capital Innovations LLC Takes $3.68 Million Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Capital Innovations LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 49,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,680,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,187,929,000 after buying an additional 2,001,018 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,994,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 86.6% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 19,214 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 491.3% during the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 21,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 17,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 135.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,017,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,205 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $90.63.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ XEL opened at $77.87 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.76 and its 200 day moving average is $78.56. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The business had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 68.30%.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.