Allstate Corp Purchases 23,338 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Allstate Corp boosted its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 109.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 44,604 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,338 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $3,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 12,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 11,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $81.00 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $84.23. The stock has a market cap of $50.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.87 and a 200 day moving average of $78.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Xcel Energy’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 68.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $90.63.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.