Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Increases Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,057 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,001 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,878,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429,353 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after buying an additional 2,323,448 shares during the period. Brookfield Corp ON raised its position in Xcel Energy by 520.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,840,000 after buying an additional 2,104,405 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth $83,653,000. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 440.2% in the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,455,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of the 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on XEL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $72.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.42. The firm has a market cap of $41.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.97 and a 1 year high of $73.38.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.28%.

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.