Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Increases Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 19.0% to 308,150 shares (about $22.84 million), representing roughly 0.05% of the company.
• Xcel raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37) from $0.57, implying a ~2.9% yield with an ex-dividend date of March 13 and payment on April 20.
• Wall Street's consensus is a Buy with an average target of $88.44; Xcel reported Q EPS of $0.96 (in line) but revenue of $3.56B missed estimates, and the stock has a market cap of ~$50.6B and a P/E of 23.7.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 308,150 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 49,277 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Xcel Energy worth $22,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 30.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,434,000 after buying an additional 14,029 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on XEL. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho set a $86.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Xcel Energy from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $88.44.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL opened at $81.08 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.43. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.96. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 13.76%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is currently 69.30%.

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.

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