Atom Investors LP Buys New Shares in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Atom Investors LP bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 59,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 394.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Argus set a $86.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $78.98 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $79.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.40. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Xcel Energy Company 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.