Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Invests $311,000 in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $302,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 8.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,318,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,163,000 after acquiring an additional 104,140 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,385,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 12.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL traded up $0.37 on Thursday, reaching $53.75. 3,051,591 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,784,769. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $71.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a PEG ratio of 2.41 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. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.65.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on XEL. TheStreet lowered Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 note on Wednesday, March 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.08.

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.