Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Acquired by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,033,733 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 286,570 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $76,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 394.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 2.1%

Xcel Energy stock opened at $79.73 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $49.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.64.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 68.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $92.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $90.94.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.