Wealthspire Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Epiq Partners LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.7% in the first quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 29,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 12,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 7.5% in the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 3,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on XEL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $64.50 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.26 and its 200-day moving average is $55.65. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $64.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.548 dividend. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.77%.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, purchasing, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar energy sources, as well as coal, natural gas, oil, wood, and refuse-derived fuels.