Invesco LLC Takes Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Invesco LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $302,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,318,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,163,000 after acquiring an additional 104,140 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $1,385,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Xcel Energy by 12.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 8.8% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays raised shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $61.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.08.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $53.17 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $54.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.24. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The firm has a market cap of $29.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 12.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.548 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.22%.

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.