Xcel Energy Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:XEL)

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 3,167 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 235% compared to the typical daily volume of 946 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XEL. Barclays increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,818,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,296,377,000 after purchasing an additional 986,170 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 31.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,809,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,827,090,000 after buying an additional 6,109,190 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,811,241 shares of the company's stock worth $1,473,228,000 after buying an additional 1,520,092 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company's stock worth $1,401,901,000 after buying an additional 6,306,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,189,246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,422,483 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $69.77. The stock had a trading volume of 805,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,905,699. 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 50-day simple moving average of $69.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy has a fifty-two week low of $51.97 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38.

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

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.