Czech National Bank Boosts Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,507 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,939 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $8,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after buying an additional 2,323,448 shares during the period. Brookfield Corp ON grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $64,301,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,956,000 after purchasing an additional 892,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,797,000 after buying an additional 777,696 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.67.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of XEL stock opened at $64.08 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $68.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.38. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The company has a market cap of $36.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a $0.5475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.99%.

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.