&Partners Takes $323,000 Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

&Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 293.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $53.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $29.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.59. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $65.62.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.5475 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.27.

Xcel Energy Company 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.