Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 19,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,325,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 76,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,158,000 after purchasing an additional 7,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,676 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on XEL shares. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.20. 3,985,767 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,629,700. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.97 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $40.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38.

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 business had revenue of $3.91 billion during 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%. The company'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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.