Capital Research Global Investors Raises Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,496,842 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,670 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned 0.59% of Xcel Energy worth $282,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,262,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,788,448,000 after buying an additional 2,157,602 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 54.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,098,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,063 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.7% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 10.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,719,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,274,799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,746,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 29.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,366,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $81.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.71. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $84.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.58. The stock has a market cap of $51.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.45.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on XEL. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.60.

Xcel Energy Profile

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.