Aventail Capital Group LP Grows Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Aventail Capital Group LP boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 845,489 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 275,712 shares during the period. Xcel Energy accounts for about 3.2% of Aventail Capital Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $68,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 168.4% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 202.2% during the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XEL. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.44.

Xcel Energy News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Xcel Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts maintain a favorable view — XEL recently received an average “Buy” rating from analysts, which supports investor confidence. Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts
• Positive Sentiment: Storm-response readiness highlighted — Xcel says crews are staged and ready to respond to outages from the winter storm, which reduces operational risk and limits potential outage duration. Workers ready to respond to outages during winter storm, Xcel Energy says
• Positive Sentiment: Planned logistics/maintenance underway — Xcel is moving equipment this weekend (with some traffic impacts), indicating proactive grid work to manage storm impacts. Xcel Energy moving equipment this weekend with impacts to traffic on I-25 near exit 243
• Neutral Sentiment: Safety outreach — Xcel and the American Red Cross published severe‑weather safety tips for customers; this is reputationally positive but not material to near‑term financials. Xcel Energy, American Red Cross offer tips to stay safe during severe weather
• Neutral Sentiment: Market performance context — commentary that XEL is outperforming the Nasdaq provides sentiment context but doesn’t change fundamentals. Is Xcel Energy stock outperforming the Nasdaq?
• Negative Sentiment: Environmental/operational risk — Xcel confirmed mineral oil leaked into the Mississippi River near the Monticello nuclear plant. Even if described as a “small amount,” the incident raises potential cleanup, regulatory and reputational costs. Xcel Energy confirms mineral oil leaked into Mississippi River near Monticello nuclear plant
• Negative Sentiment: Planned/preventive power shutoffs — Weather alerts indicate likely shutoffs that could affect tens of thousands of customers (reports cite ~43,000 at risk in Colorado), increasing short‑term customer disruption and outage-management costs. Xcel Energy: Power shutoff ‘likely’ Saturday in Boulder, Jefferson counties
• Negative Sentiment: Wider storm impacts in the Upper Midwest — Xcel warns of outages in Wisconsin and recent wind events left 20k+ Minnesota customers without power, signaling elevated storm-related operational costs across service territories. Xcel Energy warns of outages in Wisconsin amid forecasted snowstorm

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.3%

XEL stock opened at $81.91 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $84.23. The stock has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

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.