Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 7.8% in Q4 to 6,472,774 shares (about 1.09% ownership), and institutions now own roughly 78.38% of the stock.
• Xcel has a consensus Buy rating with an average target price of $90.88, and several analysts recently raised targets into the low $90s.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37), implying a yield of about 3.0% and a payout ratio near 69.3%.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,472,774 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 465,908 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 1.09% of Xcel Energy worth $478,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 46,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,603 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 59,103 shares of the company's stock worth $4,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,686 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,610,805 shares of the company's stock worth $5,732,334,000 after acquiring an additional 885,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 4,835 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on XEL shares. Mizuho set a $86.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $92.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.88.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.0%

Xcel Energy stock opened at $79.15 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The business's 50-day moving average price is $80.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.73. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $84.23. The firm has a market cap of $49.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.43.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The business's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.30%.

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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