Axa S.A. Buys 2,755 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Axa S.A. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,060 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,755 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 770.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,955,000 after buying an additional 6,684,499 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,264,000 after acquiring an additional 74,690 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 120.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,025 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 130.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,823 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 10.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,854,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,046,000 after acquiring an additional 174,653 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of XEL stock opened at $65.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $65.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.50.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 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 business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.