Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 361,980 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.4%, buying 361,980 shares to own 6,014,053 shares (about 1.02% of the company) worth roughly $485 million.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $88.60 (recent targets roughly $84–$91); ratings split: 3 Strong Buy, 12 Buy, 1 Hold and 1 Sell.
• Xcel reported quarterly EPS of $0.96 (in line) and revenue of $3.56B (below estimates but up 14.1% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 ($2.37 annualized, ~2.9% yield; ex-dividend Mar 13).

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,014,053 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 361,980 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 1.02% of Xcel Energy worth $485,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 168.4% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 314 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 202.2% during the 2nd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 417 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $88.60.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $81.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $51.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $77.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.58. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 13.76%.The business had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy NASDAQ: XEL is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company's core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.

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