Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 10,768 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 101,801 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,768 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $7,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,018 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $6,994,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 86.6% in the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 19,214 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 491.3% in the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 21,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 17,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 23.1% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 83,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,702,000 after purchasing an additional 15,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $79.91 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.67. The company has a market capitalization of $49.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.41.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 68.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on XEL. Argus set a $86.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Truist Financial began coverage on Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.88.

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.