Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Bought by Viking Fund Management LLC

Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. Xcel Energy accounts for about 2.1% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $17,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.1% during the first quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 12,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 7,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,000 after buying an additional 1,664 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 6.6% in the first quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 20,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 45.2% during the 1st quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 40,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,875,000 after buying an additional 12,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on XEL. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. 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 report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $86.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.29.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.3%

XEL stock opened at $72.67 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.58 and a 1-year high of $83.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.45.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.08). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.45%. The company had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 29th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.51%.

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.