Heritage Trust Co Purchases New Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in XEL. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Insider Activity at Xcel Energy

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $69.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.63. The stock has a market cap of $39.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.97 and a 12-month high of $73.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. Equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.28%.

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.