Corundum Group Inc. Grows Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Corundum Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 143.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,187 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,358 shares during the period. Corundum Group Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 189,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,404,000 after purchasing an additional 12,477 shares during the period. ING Groep NV increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 85.0% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 231,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,116,000 after buying an additional 106,326 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 27,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after buying an additional 10,821 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 393.0% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,708,000 after acquiring an additional 252,793 shares during the period. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at about $532,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on XEL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $66.72 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $68.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a $0.5475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.99%.

About Xcel Energy

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.