Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Xcel Energy stake by 6,158.2% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 1.17 million shares valued at approximately $94.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 78.38% of XEL.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and a $92.76 price target. Recent targets range from $91 to $102, although Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to “Sell.”
• Xcel Energy reported quarterly EPS of $0.93, beating estimates of $0.79, but revenue declined 5.1% year over year to $3.12 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5925, equivalent to a 3.0% annualized yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 6,158.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,173,283 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,154,535 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.19% of Xcel Energy worth $94,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company's stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on XEL shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. New Street Research set a $91.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.76.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $78.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.26 and a 200 day moving average of $79.52. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.16 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The firm has a market cap of $48.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.93%.

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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