Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 77,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,779,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 135.3% in the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 16,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 9,222 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,106 shares of the company's stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 629,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,978,000 after buying an additional 19,355 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 912 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on XEL shares. TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays raised shares of Xcel Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.08.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:XEL traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.17. 3,010,402 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,333,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.26.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.02). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The company had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.22%.

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.