Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Purchased by Electron Capital Partners LLC

Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,936,695 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 255,884 shares during the quarter. Xcel Energy comprises approximately 6.6% of Electron Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Electron Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $143,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 30.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after acquiring an additional 14,029 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $77.46 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 68.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XEL. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Argus set a $86.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, June 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

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.