Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Invests $270,000 in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 21,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 662,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,408,000 after buying an additional 116,477 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 908,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,517,000 after buying an additional 144,325 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 24.1% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,178 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 14.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,186,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,376,000 after acquiring an additional 149,200 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp lifted 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, September 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.79.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $64.13 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $64.95. The company has a market capitalization of $35.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.