BlackRock Inc. Buys New Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 60.9 million Xcel Energy shares worth approximately $4.89 billion, giving it a 9.75% stake; institutional investors collectively own 78.38% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $92.41 versus the stock’s reported price of $79.17.
• Xcel Energy exceeded quarterly EPS expectations with $0.93 per share, though revenue fell 5.1% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5925 per share, equivalent to a 3.0% annual yield.

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 60,898,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,890,136,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 9.75% of Xcel Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company's stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,549 shares of the company's stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on XEL shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of XEL stock opened at $79.17 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $79.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.68. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.29 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The company has a market capitalization of $49.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

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

Xcel Energy 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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