Barclays PLC Purchases 3,881,011 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Barclays PLC increased its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 63.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,979,397 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,881,011 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 1.69% of Xcel Energy worth $737,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. 17 Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 57.0% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 9,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 3,503 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,034,000 after buying an additional 636 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 64,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,739,000 after buying an additional 9,907 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $79.22 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 68.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XEL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

About Xcel Energy

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.