Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Increases Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,445 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after buying an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,405 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,301,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after purchasing an additional 892,740 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,797,000 after purchasing an additional 777,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays decreased their price target on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $67.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $73.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.08.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. Analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th were issued a $0.5475 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.66%.

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.