Magellan Asset Management Ltd Acquires New Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Magellan Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,818,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,328,000. Xcel Energy comprises about 5.1% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 365.3% in the first quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Advocate Investing Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on XEL. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho set a $92.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $76.30 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.29 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

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

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

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

Xcel Energy 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.