Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 1,578 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 388,240 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,578 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $25,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares during the period. Brookfield Corp ON increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 130.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,823 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at about $64,301,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after buying an additional 892,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $63.37 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.54 and a two-hundred day 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released 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 analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

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