Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Makes New Investment in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,082,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of XEL. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 30.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.8% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $79.17 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $71.29 and a one year high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $79.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.68. The firm has a market cap of $49.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $92.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, New Street Research set a $91.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.41.

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.