Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Purchases New Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,653,000. First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 163.9% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 15,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 9,465 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $68.00 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.57 and a 200-day moving average of $66.50. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.89 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $39.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.57 dividend. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.28%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.