Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC Takes Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,442,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on XEL. New Street Research set a $91.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of XEL opened at $77.19 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.29 and a 12-month high of $84.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 64.93%.

Xcel Energy 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.