Kure Advisory LLC Invests $293,000 in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Kure Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 731 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1,860.0% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 784 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on XEL. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price target on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.90.

Insider Activity at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $68.57. 1,821,058 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,584,386. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.97 and a 52 week high of $73.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $69.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.96. The company has a market cap of $39.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The business had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.