GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires New Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 293.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays upgraded Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $55.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,724,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,350,745. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $30.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $54.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.14. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $71.32.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.22%.

Xcel Energy 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.