Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Vanguard Group raised its Q4 position in Xcel Energy by 1.2% and now owns 77,610,805 shares, roughly 13.12% of the company worth about $5.73 billion.
• Xcel's latest quarter delivered EPS of $0.96, meeting estimates, while revenue of $3.56 billion missed expectations but was up 14.1% year-over-year.
• The firm increased its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37) for a 3.0% yield, and analysts hold a consensus Buy rating with a $90.88 target.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,610,805 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 885,085 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 13.12% of Xcel Energy worth $5,732,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 168.4% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 314 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 394.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.3%

XEL opened at $79.41 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock's fifty day moving average is $80.70 and its 200-day moving average is $78.71. The company has a market capitalization of $49.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G 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, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 13.76%.Xcel Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is presently 69.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, April 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $86.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.88.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.