Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 21,804 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 145.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,806 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,804 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Quilter Plc bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter worth $255,201,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $31,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.08.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $53.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $54.23 and its 200 day moving average is $58.14. The company has a market cap of $29.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $71.32.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 68.22%.

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.