IFG Advisory LLC Acquires New Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

IFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,187,929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001,018 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,144,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,344,295,000 after acquiring an additional 126,790 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.0% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,262,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,788,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,157,602 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,026,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,695,748,000 after purchasing an additional 831,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,526,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,842,000 after purchasing an additional 807,353 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $82.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $77.67 and its 200 day moving average is $77.44. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.96. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 13.76%.Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on XEL shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp cut their price target on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.60.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.