Invesco LLC Acquires New Shares in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Invesco LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,665,677,000 after acquiring an additional 8,644,054 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $576,873,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $231,020,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,521,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559,321 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 165.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,899,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,298 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $53.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.24.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 12.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.22%.

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.