Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 341,507 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,739 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Xcel Energy worth $27,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Xcel Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001,018 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 19,214 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $6,994,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2,324.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,716,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,884,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645,571 shares during the period. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $1,176,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $81.88 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $84.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.58. The company has a market capitalization of $51.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.45.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Three investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.60.

About Xcel Energy

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.