Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 386,662 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,308 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.07% of Xcel Energy worth $25,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integris Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 6,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 22,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on XEL shares. Barclays upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.54.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $64.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $35.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.91. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $65.76.

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 business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.548 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

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.