China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 51.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,191 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,846 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of XEL. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,401,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,306,380 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 118.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,608,044 shares of the company's stock worth $446,175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,581,436 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,625.7% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,667,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,609,000 after acquiring an additional 3,454,700 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 236.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,878,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $329,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,429,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 379.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,022,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $271,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,182,939 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on XEL. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.80.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $68.11. 679,961 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,590,378. The company has a market cap of $39.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.09 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $68.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 14.10%. Xcel Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, July 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, purchasing, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar energy sources, as well as coal, natural gas, oil, wood, and refuse-derived fuels.