Truist Financial Corp Grows Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 234,442 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,152 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $15,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. State Street Corp increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,956,000 after purchasing an additional 892,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,091,000 after purchasing an additional 262,191 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,417,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,170,000 after purchasing an additional 67,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $69.07 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.52. 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 (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th were given a $0.5475 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.66%.

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.