Advocate Group LLC Boosts Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Advocate Group LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 1,943.8%, acquiring 61,989 shares to hold 65,178 shares worth about $4.81 million after the quarter.
• Xcel raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37), implying a 2.9% yield, with an ex-dividend date of March 13 and payment on April 20.
• Xcel reported Q4 EPS of $0.96, meeting estimates, while revenue of $3.56 billion missed consensus but was up 14.1% year‑over‑year; analysts' consensus expects full‑year EPS of 3.82.

Advocate Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 1,943.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,178 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 61,989 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $4,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 12,683 shares of the company's stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.1% in the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 1,592 shares of the company's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.2% in the third quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warwick Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,970 shares of the company's stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL opened at $80.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.43. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $84.23. The company's 50-day moving average price is $79.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 13.76%.Xcel Energy's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis 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 presently 69.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on XEL. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho set a $86.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Xcel Energy from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.44.

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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