242,457 Shares in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Purchased by BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.

Key Points

• BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. opened a new position in Xcel Energy, buying 242,457 shares valued at about $17.9 million in the fourth quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also added to Xcel Energy, and hedge funds now own 78.38% of the company’s shares, signaling strong institutional interest.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $90.63, while Xcel also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5925 per share payable July 20.

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 242,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,908,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in Xcel Energy by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 27,278 shares of the company's stock worth $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,579,918 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,413,000 after buying an additional 415,759 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 228,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,870,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,742 shares of the company's stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 114.4% during the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 24,274 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,793,000 after buying an additional 12,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Xcel Energy from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.63.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 3.9%

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $76.41 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.56. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market cap of $47.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.30%.

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.

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