Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases 2,399,089 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management increased its Xcel Energy stake by 37.1% in the first quarter, buying 2.4 million more shares and bringing its total holding to 8.87 million shares worth about $704.8 million.
• Xcel Energy reported Q1 earnings of $0.91 per share, matching analyst estimates, while revenue came in at $4.02 billion versus expectations of $4.21 billion.
• The utility also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5925 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of 2.9%, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Buy with an average price target of $91.29.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 37.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,871,863 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,399,089 shares during the quarter. Xcel Energy makes up 0.7% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 1.42% of Xcel Energy worth $704,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company's stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company's stock worth $3,434,000 after buying an additional 14,029 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company's stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $82.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.56 and a 12-month high of $84.23. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $79.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XEL. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $91.29.

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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