Aventail Capital Group LP Increases Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 48.4% in Q3 to 845,489 shares (about $68.19M), making XEL its fourth-largest holding and roughly 0.14% of the company.
• Wall Street is broadly positive on XEL with a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $88.44, backed by recent upgrades from firms including UBS and RBC.
• Xcel raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37, ~2.9% yield), but faces near-term operational risks including a reported mineral‑oil leak near the Monticello nuclear plant and storm‑related planned shutoffs/outages affecting tens of thousands of customers.

Aventail Capital Group LP grew its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 845,489 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 275,712 shares during the period. Xcel Energy makes up 3.2% of Aventail Capital Group LP's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Aventail Capital Group LP owned approximately 0.14% of Xcel Energy worth $68,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in XEL. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first 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 holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 643,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,813,000 after purchasing an additional 6,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 87,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,956,000 after purchasing an additional 3,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on XEL. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $81.00 to $89.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Argus set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.44.

Key Stories Impacting Xcel Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Xcel Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts maintain a favorable view — XEL recently received an average "Buy" rating from analysts, which supports investor confidence. Xcel Energy Inc. NASDAQ: XEL Receives Average Rating of "Buy" from Analysts
• Positive Sentiment: Storm-response readiness highlighted — Xcel says crews are staged and ready to respond to outages from the winter storm, which reduces operational risk and limits potential outage duration. Workers ready to respond to outages during winter storm, Xcel Energy says
• Positive Sentiment: Planned logistics/maintenance underway — Xcel is moving equipment this weekend (with some traffic impacts), indicating proactive grid work to manage storm impacts. Xcel Energy moving equipment this weekend with impacts to traffic on I-25 near exit 243
• Neutral Sentiment: Safety outreach — Xcel and the American Red Cross published severe‑weather safety tips for customers; this is reputationally positive but not material to near‑term financials. Xcel Energy, American Red Cross offer tips to stay safe during severe weather
• Neutral Sentiment: Market performance context — commentary that XEL is outperforming the Nasdaq provides sentiment context but doesn't change fundamentals. Is Xcel Energy stock outperforming the Nasdaq?
• Negative Sentiment: Environmental/operational risk — Xcel confirmed mineral oil leaked into the Mississippi River near the Monticello nuclear plant. Even if described as a "small amount," the incident raises potential cleanup, regulatory and reputational costs. Xcel Energy confirms mineral oil leaked into Mississippi River near Monticello nuclear plant
• Negative Sentiment: Planned/preventive power shutoffs — Weather alerts indicate likely shutoffs that could affect tens of thousands of customers (reports cite ~43,000 at risk in Colorado), increasing short‑term customer disruption and outage-management costs. Xcel Energy: Power shutoff ‘likely’ Saturday in Boulder, Jefferson counties
• Negative Sentiment: Wider storm impacts in the Upper Midwest — Xcel warns of outages in Wisconsin and recent wind events left 20k+ Minnesota customers without power, signaling elevated storm-related operational costs across service territories. Xcel Energy warns of outages in Wisconsin amid forecasted snowstorm

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $81.91 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.73. The company has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

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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