Korea Investment CORP Takes $26.96 Million Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 335,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,956,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho set a $92.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $76.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.29 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.93%.

Xcel Energy 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.