Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 64,609 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 5.2%, buying 64,609 shares to hold 1,295,486 shares (about a 0.22% stake) valued at roughly $96.75 million at quarter end.
• Sell-side consensus is a Buy with an average target price of $91.13, backed by recent positive calls from firms including Truist, Evercore and UBS.
• Xcel raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37), implying a yield of 2.9% and a payout ratio of 68.3%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,295,486 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,609 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.22% of Xcel Energy worth $96,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 168.4% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 314 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $27,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its position in Xcel Energy by 394.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on XEL. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $86.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $91.13.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $80.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $80.57 and a 200-day moving average of $78.70. The firm has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.41. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Xcel Energy's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is 68.30%.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

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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