Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Buys New Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 447.1% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 51,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,470,000 after acquiring an additional 42,001 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $278,000. GEN Financial Management INC. bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $301,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 14,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 134,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,055,000 after acquiring an additional 6,114 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on XEL. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ XEL traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.38. The stock had a trading volume of 7,152,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,620,693. The firm's 50 day moving average is $69.73 and its 200 day moving average is $68.77. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.97 and a twelve month high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company 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.