Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,326,913 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 122,628 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $171,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after buying an additional 14,029 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.8% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL opened at $78.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $49.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on XEL shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.63.

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.