Lbp Am Sa Takes $2.17 Million Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

LBP AM SA bought a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 30,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,169,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 827 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on XEL shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.80.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL traded up $0.55 on Monday, reaching $69.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,045,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,597,543. The stock's 50-day moving average is $68.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.61. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.97 and a 52-week high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.36.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Xcel Energy's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.