Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Acquires 797,096 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 725.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 907,030 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 797,096 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $48,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Epiq Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 29,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 12,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in Xcel Energy by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 3,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on XEL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.92.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of XEL stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.91. 4,731,757 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,280,849. The company has a market capitalization of $34.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $64.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

About Xcel Energy

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.