Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,051,708 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,322 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $66,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 15.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,665,677,000 after buying an additional 8,644,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,521,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,059,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559,321 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,766,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,796,000 after purchasing an additional 261,426 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,739,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,396,000 after acquiring an additional 90,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 11.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,303,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,440,000 after purchasing an additional 550,508 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on XEL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. TheStreet lowered Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of XEL traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $54.25. 3,285,090 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,238,203. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $30.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $69.85.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.