Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 364,155 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,720 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $29,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Mizuho set a $92.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. New Street Research set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $76.45 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $47.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.29 and a 1 year high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.77.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.93%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.