Dark Forest Capital Management LP Lowers Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP reduced its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,339 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,457 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,831,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,985,136,000 after purchasing an additional 953,002 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 grew its stake in shares of 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,178,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,223,000 after purchasing an additional 616,853 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 118.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,608,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,581,436 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.09.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $69.58 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.97 and a 52-week high of $73.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.59 and a 200-day moving average of $68.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid 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 3.28%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.