8,478 Shares in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Acquired by Mufg Securities Americas Inc.

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 8,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,831,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,985,136,000 after acquiring an additional 953,002 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,401,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,306,380 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,194 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,422,483 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,178,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,223,000 after acquiring an additional 616,853 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $71.26 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.65. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.97 and a 52 week high of $73.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. The company had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 67.06%.

About Xcel Energy

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.