PharVision Advisers LLC Acquires New Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 5,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,831,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,985,136,000 after purchasing an additional 953,002 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,401,901,000 after buying an additional 6,306,380 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,538,000 after buying an additional 1,022,194 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,246,000 after buying an additional 2,422,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,178,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,223,000 after buying an additional 616,853 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $72.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $69.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.83. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.97 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.00.

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.