Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Position Raised by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 41.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,318 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 298,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,448,000 after acquiring an additional 7,679 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 115,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,121,000 after acquiring an additional 37,131 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 930.5% in the third quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 45,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after buying an additional 41,462 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 66.8% in the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 70,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,359,000 after acquiring an additional 28,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,665,677,000 after purchasing an additional 8,644,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on XEL shares. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $54.36 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $69.85. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.17 and its 200-day moving average is $57.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.