Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,230,877 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 69,154 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $99,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after buying an additional 2,001,018 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 86.6% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,339,000 after acquiring an additional 19,214 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2,324.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,716,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645,571 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,994,000. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,176,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $83.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.46. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $84.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.04.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.83%. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho set a $86.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 9th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $89.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.60.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.