Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 17,833 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,290,155 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,833 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $95,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bayban purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,346,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 101,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,519,000 after acquiring an additional 10,768 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $444,000. Finally, Blue Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $2,632,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $77.41 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.32 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.33.

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

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.62.

About Xcel Energy

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.