Czech National Bank Acquires 7,387 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Czech National Bank grew its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 131,894 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,387 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $9,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,831,988 shares of the company's stock worth $4,985,136,000 after acquiring an additional 953,002 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 43.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company's stock worth $1,302,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,194 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,189,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,178,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,029,223,000 after purchasing an additional 616,853 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Xcel Energy

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,286,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,590,836. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $39.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. The business's 50 day moving average price is $69.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.97. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.97 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. Xcel Energy's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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 report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.90.

Xcel Energy Profile

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.