Barclays PLC Grows Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Barclays PLC boosted its stake 54.3% in Xcel Energy, acquiring 2,145,063 shares to own 6,098,386 shares (1.03% of the company) valued at about $491.8 million at quarter-end.
• Xcel raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37), yielding 2.9% with an ex-dividend date of March 13, up from the prior $0.57 quarterly payout.
• Xcel reported Q results that matched EPS estimates at $0.96 while revenue missed at $3.56B (vs. $3.77B consensus) but was up 14.1% year-over-year, and the stock carries a consensus "Buy" rating with an average target of $88.60.

Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 54.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,098,386 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,145,063 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 1.03% of Xcel Energy worth $491,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,187,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Xcel Energy by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,144,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,344,295,000 after buying an additional 126,790 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Xcel Energy by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,262,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,788,448,000 after buying an additional 2,157,602 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,026,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,695,748,000 after buying an additional 831,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,526,873 shares of the company's stock worth $1,574,842,000 after acquiring an additional 807,353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $82.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.40 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.34. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for 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%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus raised Xcel Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $81.00 to $89.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $88.60.

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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