Saudi Central Bank Raises Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Saudi Central Bank doubled its Xcel Energy stake in the second quarter, adding 21,857 shares to hold 43,691 shares valued at approximately $3.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 78.38% of Xcel’s stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Xcel Energy, with an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $92.41, compared with the stock’s reported price of $75.72.
• Xcel beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.93 versus the $0.79 consensus, but revenue fell 5.1% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5925 per share, equivalent to a 3.1% annualized yield.

Saudi Central Bank grew its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 100.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,691 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,857 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $3,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $129,000. AlphaGrep UK Ltd purchased a new position in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth about $414,000. Shah Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth about $466,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Syon Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. New Street Research set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $75.72 on Monday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.29 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The stock has a market cap of $47.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is presently 64.93%.

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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