Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 7,652 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,901 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,652 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $5,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 293.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. TheStreet downgraded Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $54.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company has a market cap of $30.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $54.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.14.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 12.47%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.548 dividend. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.22%.

Xcel Energy Profile

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.