LPL Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,780,659 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,319 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.30% of Xcel Energy worth $131,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 394.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $90.63.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $78.10 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $84.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $48.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 68.30%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.