Reaves W H & Co. Inc. Acquires 1,186,427 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 440.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,455,927 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,186,427 shares during the quarter. Xcel Energy accounts for about 2.6% of Reaves W H & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Reaves W H & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $98,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. State Street Corp lifted 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 buying an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted 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 buying an additional 892,740 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 262,191 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,777,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,023,000 after buying an additional 11,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 67,820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ XEL opened at $71.90 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.26. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.28%.

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.