Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,582,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,036,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after buying an additional 14,029 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.8% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.1%

Xcel Energy stock opened at $79.17 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $71.29 and a one year high of $84.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.37 and a 200 day moving average of $79.68. 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 market cap of $49.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 64.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on XEL. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Mizuho set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.41.

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.