BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 539,400 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 53.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,544,114 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 539,400 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.27% of Xcel Energy worth $104,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $70.89 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.97 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $40.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $69.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.40.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XEL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

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.

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