Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Acquires 1,057 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,586,877 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $98,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on XEL shares. Barclays raised shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $52.53 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.20. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.548 dividend. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

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.