USA Financial Formulas Buys 17,810 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

USA Financial Formulas lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 491.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,435 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,810 shares during the period. Xcel Energy accounts for 0.3% of USA Financial Formulas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,187,929,000 after buying an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 86.6% in the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,339,000 after acquiring an additional 19,214 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,994,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 2,324.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,716,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645,571 shares during the period. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at about $1,176,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of XEL opened at $78.09 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The stock has a market cap of $48.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.18.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. Xcel Energy’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 69.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho set a $86.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.44.

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.