Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 296,467 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,225,852 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 296,467 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.56% of Xcel Energy worth $217,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,066 shares of the company's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 19,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 6,219 shares during the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $217,000. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 28,617 shares of the company's stock worth $1,932,000 after buying an additional 1,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 389.8% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 17,108 shares of the company's stock worth $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 13,615 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.32. 3,538,564 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,625,770. The company's fifty day moving average price is $69.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.83. The firm has a market cap of $41.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.97 and a 1-year high of $73.38.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.