Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Raises Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,421 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. AXA S.A. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after buying an additional 2,755 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 546,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,208,000 after purchasing an additional 26,092 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $387,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 116.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 282,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,095,000 after purchasing an additional 151,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 26,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XEL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 2.3 %

Xcel Energy stock opened at $66.43 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $73.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $68.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $38.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.99%.

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.