Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 876 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 18.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,607 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in XEL. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. American National Bank acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL opened at $64.01 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $65.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on XEL shares. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.57.

About Xcel Energy

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.