Reaves W H & Co. Inc. Grows Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Key Points

• Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 58.0%, acquiring an additional 844,632 shares, making it the firm's 5th largest position.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Xcel Energy, with one downgrade to "sell" and several upgrades raising target prices, resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Xcel Energy reported an EPS of $0.75 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share, with a market cap of $43.91 billion.

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 58.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,300,559 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 844,632 shares during the period. Xcel Energy accounts for approximately 4.1% of Reaves W H & Co. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.40% of Xcel Energy worth $162,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $53,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on XEL. Wall Street Zen cut Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:XEL traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $73.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,328,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,379,997. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.24 and a 1-year high of $74.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $43.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.34. The business's 50-day moving average price is $69.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.31 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 14.85%. The company's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is 63.16%.

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.