Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 127,600 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 13.3%, owning approximately 1,083,471 shares worth $76.7 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Research analysts have generally positive outlooks on Xcel Energy, with several raising their price targets, resulting in an average price target of $76.00 and an overall rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Xcel Energy has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share, which represents a 3.1% annualized dividend yield based on its current payout ratio of 63.16%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,083,471 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 127,600 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.19% of Xcel Energy worth $76,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,401,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,306,380 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 1,625.7% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,667,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,609,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454,700 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 379.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,022,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $271,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182,939 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 187.0% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,829,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 6,594.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,167,398 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,961 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded down $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $72.39. The company had a trading volume of 3,136,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,643,536. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.31 and a 12 month high of $74.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.34.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 14.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.16%.

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.