GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Purchases 8,431 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,263 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,431 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $8,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 43.6% in 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 period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 118.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,608,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $446,175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,581,436 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,625.7% in the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,667,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,609,000 after buying an additional 3,454,700 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 236.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,878,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $329,381,000 after buying an additional 3,429,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 379.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,022,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $271,578,000 after buying an additional 3,182,939 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI increased 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.80.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $67.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,192,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,602,901. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $39.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.97 and a twelve month high of $73.38. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $69.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.61.

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

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, July 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is 67.06%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.