Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Buys 579 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 68,652 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 579 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $4,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 14,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 3,457 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $630,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 18,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 5,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $54.96 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.15. The stock has a market cap of $30.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $71.32.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.02). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The company had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.548 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.22%.

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.