Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Buys New Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 68,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after acquiring an additional 14,029 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Xcel Energy stock opened at $79.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 68.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on XEL. Morgan Stanley set a $92.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.94.

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.