Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,463 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of XEL. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 23.2% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,614,000 after purchasing an additional 121,118 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 2.4% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,625,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,372,000 after acquiring an additional 38,653 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 24.8% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 100,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,427,000 after acquiring an additional 20,068 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 91,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 105,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 8,790 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $64.46 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $65.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.548 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.54.

Xcel Energy 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.