Dearborn Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $871,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 365.3% during the first quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on XEL shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $92.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $77.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.29 and a fifty-two week high of $84.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.74. The company has a market cap of $48.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 64.93%.

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.