Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 13,804 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its Xcel Energy stake by 84.9% in the first quarter, purchasing 13,804 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 30,068 shares valued at approximately $2.39 million.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Xcel Energy receiving a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $92.76, despite one recent downgrade to “Sell.”
• Xcel Energy reported quarterly EPS of $0.93, beating estimates of $0.79, while revenue fell 5.1% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5925, equivalent to a 3.1% annualized yield.

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 84.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,068 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,804 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 365.3% during the 1st quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 349 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the first quarter worth about $39,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on XEL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Mizuho set a $92.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $92.76.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $77.20 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $79.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.53. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.16 and a 12-month high of $84.23. The company has a market cap of $48.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding XEL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source