Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Purchased by Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) by 4.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,096 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,423 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Natixis boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 512.0% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 2,949,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,371,000 after buying an additional 2,467,364 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,043,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,611,630,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263,127 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,120.8% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,269,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,050 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,039.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,145,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 93.6% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,005,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,919,000 after purchasing an additional 969,776 shares in the last quarter. 77.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $67.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.87. The firm has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.41. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.89 and a 12-month high of $77.66.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 61.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Xcel Energy news, SVP Frank P. Prager sold 737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $47,905.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at $1,907,100. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, November 21st. Credit Suisse Group lowered Xcel Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Xcel Energy from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.80.

About Xcel Energy

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Xcel Energy, Inc operates as a holding company engaged in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through the following three segments: Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility and All Others. The Regulated Electric Utility segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity primarily in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico.