Zimmer Partners LP Has $247.61 Million Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1,625.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,667,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,454,700 shares during the quarter. Xcel Energy comprises approximately 4.3% of Zimmer Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Zimmer Partners LP’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $247,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on XEL. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Xcel Energy stock opened at $72.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.97 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.81. The firm has a market cap of $41.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

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.