Royal Fund Management LLC Buys 18,144 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 97.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,836 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,144 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,614,000 after purchasing an additional 121,118 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.4% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,625,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,372,000 after buying an additional 38,653 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 24.8% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 100,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,427,000 after buying an additional 20,068 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Xcel Energy by 91.6% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 190,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,245,000 after buying an additional 91,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 3,424.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 16,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 16,127 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.12. The company had a trading volume of 66,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,178,646. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.87 and its 200-day moving average is $57.00. The company has a market cap of $35.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.39. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $65.64.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during 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%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

Xcel Energy 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.