Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 122,628 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its Xcel Energy stake by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 122,628 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 2.33 million shares worth about $171.9 million.
• Xcel Energy reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, matching analyst expectations, while revenue came in at $4.02 billion versus the $4.21 billion consensus estimate.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5925 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.0%, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Buy with a target price of $90.63.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,326,913 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 122,628 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.39% of Xcel Energy worth $171,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.0% during the third quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 12,683 shares of the company's stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company's stock worth $2,138,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.5%

XEL opened at $78.98 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.40. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is presently 68.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. 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 note on Monday, April 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.63.

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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