Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 2,422,483 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,613,239 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,422,483 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 3.07% of Xcel Energy worth $1,189,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Xcel Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 5.9 %

NASDAQ:XEL traded down $4.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.89. 5,680,733 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,560,471. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.97 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. As a group, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.