Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd Buys New Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 193,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,096,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,507 shares of the company's stock worth $8,407,000 after buying an additional 10,939 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. City State Bank now owns 2,526 shares of the company's stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 6,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Xcel Energy

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

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $68.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.60. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.97 and a 52 week high of $73.38.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

About Xcel Energy

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.

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