Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Purchases Shares of 421,963 Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. has acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc., purchasing 421,963 shares valued at approximately $29.87 million, representing about 0.07% of the company.
• Several hedge funds significantly increased their positions in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter, with Bank of America Corp DE boosting its holdings by 43.6% to over $1.4 billion.
• Xcel Energy recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.75 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.57 slated for payment on October 20th.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 421,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,871,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Xcel Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of XEL. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 615.0% in the first quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 140,288 shares of the company's stock worth $9,931,000 after acquiring an additional 120,668 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.8% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,140 shares of the company's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,769,000. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.8% during the first quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,192,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:XEL traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $73.43. 272,341 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,634,811. The firm has a market cap of $43.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.34. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.24 and a fifty-two week high of $74.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.30.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.31 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 14.85%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

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.