HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Acquires 778 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,916 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,436,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,053,000 after acquiring an additional 551,470 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 101,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,830,000 after purchasing an additional 33,891 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,573,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090,208 shares during the period. Finally, Intrust Bank NA boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 10,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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. KeyCorp upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.60.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ XEL opened at $70.79 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.32. The firm has a market cap of $40.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.97 and a 1 year high of $73.38.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.