MUFG Securities EMEA plc Raises Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 114.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,274 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,954 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,610,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,732,334,000 after purchasing an additional 885,085 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,896,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,914,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 9.9% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 28,851,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,326,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589,406 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 4.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,026,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,695,748,000 after purchasing an additional 831,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,496,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,214,035,000 after purchasing an additional 126,498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $76.41 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $84.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $47.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.56.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. Argus set a $86.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

About Xcel Energy

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.