Ethic Inc. Raises Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 55.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,030 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,168 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought 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 of the company's stock, valued at $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on XEL shares. 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. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Three equities 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.6%

XEL traded up $1.12 on Friday, hitting $72.38. The company had a trading volume of 7,152,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,618,043. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.97 and a 52-week high of $73.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.65. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.