Quantinno Capital Management LP Increases Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 60.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,942 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 53,557 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $9,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 731 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was purchased at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.6%

Xcel Energy stock traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,152,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,620,693. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $69.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.97 and a 52-week high of $73.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

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

Xcel Energy Company 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.