Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL)

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 20,169 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,126% compared to the average volume of 1,645 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.2%

XEL stock traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $77.19. 2,801,087 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,145,905. The company has a market cap of $48.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $71.29 and a 52 week high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.93%.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $280,187,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,324,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,700,000 after buying an additional 356,208 shares during the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $1,477,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,936,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,044,000 after acquiring an additional 255,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,579,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,413,000 after acquiring an additional 415,759 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.