Nebula Research & Development LLC Has $1.74 Million Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Nebula Research & Development LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 81.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,769 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,532 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 566.3% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.18.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $69.00 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.97 and a 12-month high of $73.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $39.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

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.