HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 13.0%, acquiring an additional 85,366 shares, making it the firm's 4th largest holding.
• Xcel Energy reported $0.75 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding the expected $0.66, with revenue of $3.29 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.57, which will be paid on October 20th, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.2%.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 742,163 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 85,366 shares during the period. Xcel Energy comprises approximately 3.3% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Xcel Energy worth $52,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,818,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,296,377,000 after acquiring an additional 986,170 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,811,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,473,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520,092 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company's stock worth $1,401,901,000 after buying an additional 6,306,380 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,967,952 shares of the company's stock worth $422,471,000 after buying an additional 328,845 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,711,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $404,347,000 after buying an additional 33,469 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.6%

XEL opened at $71.93 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.54 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.34. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.04 and a twelve month high of $74.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 14.85%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is 63.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XEL. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.00.

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.

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