Jennison Associates LLC Grows Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,780,492 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193,274 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $143,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 168.4% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 202.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 98.8% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of XEL opened at $75.01 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.73. The company has a market cap of $44.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $83.01.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.08). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 29th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XEL has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research upgraded Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.53.

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.