Wexford Capital LP Invests $1.86 Million in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 27,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,863,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,831,988 shares of the company's stock worth $4,985,136,000 after buying an additional 953,002 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company's stock worth $1,401,901,000 after buying an additional 6,306,380 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company's stock worth $1,302,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,194 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company's stock worth $1,189,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,178,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,029,223,000 after acquiring an additional 616,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on XEL. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of XEL stock opened at $72.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.97 and a 52-week high of $73.38. The company has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. The business's fifty day moving average is $69.73 and its 200 day moving average is $68.77.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.06%.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, purchasing, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar energy sources, as well as coal, natural gas, oil, wood, and refuse-derived fuels.

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