Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL)

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 31,176 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,425% compared to the typical volume of 2,044 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho set a $92.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Xcel Energy from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of XEL traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $74.55. 2,998,575 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,168,641. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $71.35 and a 52 week high of $84.23. The company has a market cap of $46.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors 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 3.2%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,890,136,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 8,419.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,315,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,682,732,000 after purchasing an additional 57,630,988 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,340,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,704,534,000 after buying an additional 444,092 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 29,933,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,403,680,000 after buying an additional 491,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,572,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,920,000 after buying an additional 3,546,423 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc is a Minneapolis-based electric and natural gas utility holding company that serves customers across parts of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Through its operating companies, Xcel provides electricity generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas distribution and related energy services.

The company operates a diversified generating fleet that includes wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas and other resources.