Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Purchased by ST Germain D J Co. Inc.

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 40.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,027 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 874 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on XEL. KeyCorp increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $63.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 64.99%.

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.