CWA Asset Management Group LLC Has $334,000 Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,762 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,106,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,334,840,000 after acquiring an additional 935,841 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 48,652,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,113,732,000 after buying an additional 692,420 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,177,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,010,264,000 after buying an additional 522,221 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,271,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,740,000 after buying an additional 304,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Xcel Energy by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,319,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,417,000 after acquiring an additional 30,245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.15% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of XEL opened at $66.88 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $56.89 and a one year high of $77.66. The company has a market cap of $36.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.69. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Xcel Energy news, SVP Frank P. Prager sold 737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $47,905.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,907,100. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XEL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Credit Suisse Group lowered Xcel Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Xcel Energy to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.50.

Xcel Energy Profile

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Xcel Energy, Inc operates as a holding company engaged in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through the following three segments: Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility and All Others. The Regulated Electric Utility segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity primarily in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico.