Csenge Advisory Group Raises Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Csenge Advisory Group increased its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,839 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $896,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 325,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,131,000 after buying an additional 11,709 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 23.2% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,614,000 after purchasing an additional 121,118 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Xcel Energy by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 419,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,947,000 after buying an additional 29,307 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,625,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,372,000 after acquiring an additional 38,653 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on XEL. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.91.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.90. 557,062 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,426,595. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $64.25. The company has a market cap of $32.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.10.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 13.46%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.548 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.77%.

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.