Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 23,628 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 11.8%, buying 23,628 shares to own 224,292 shares worth $16,566,000 after the fourth quarter.
• Several analysts have raised price targets (BMO to $94, UBS to $91, Argus $86) and Xcel holds a consensus "Buy" rating with an average target price of $90.12.
• Xcel raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37, ~3.0% yield), and posted quarterly EPS of $0.96 that met estimates while revenue rose 14.1% year-over-year but slightly missed analyst expectations.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 224,292 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 23,628 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $16,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company's stock worth $6,187,929,000 after buying an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,994,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 19,214 shares in the last quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,176,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 94.0% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,511,000 after purchasing an additional 15,083 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. Argus set a $86.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $90.12.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $78.11 on Thursday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $80.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.78. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $84.23. The firm has a market cap of $48.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.71.

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, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 13.76%.The business had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. Xcel Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is 69.30%.

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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