Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Acquired by Saudi Central Bank

Saudi Central Bank lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 100.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 43,691 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,857 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $3,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the second 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $75.72 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.64. The stock has a market cap of $47.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.29 and a fifty-two week high of $84.23. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho set a $92.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.