Perpetual Ltd Takes Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,614,000 after buying an additional 121,118 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,625,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,372,000 after acquiring an additional 38,653 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 100,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,427,000 after acquiring an additional 20,068 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 190,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,245,000 after acquiring an additional 91,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 3,424.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 16,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 16,127 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on XEL. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $62.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $62.06 and its 200 day moving average is $57.18. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $65.64.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.77%.

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.