Quarry LP Purchases Shares of 2,382 Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 770.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,955,000 after buying an additional 6,684,499 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the first quarter worth about $80,283,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 120.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,095,000 after buying an additional 1,299,025 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 130.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,823 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1,765.0% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 932,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,122,000 after purchasing an additional 882,505 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on 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 upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $65.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $65.64.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share 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 given a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

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.