Energy Income Partners LLC Takes Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Energy Income Partners LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,022,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,111,000. Xcel Energy comprises about 1.3% of Energy Income Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Mizuho set a $92.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $79.17 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $79.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.29 and a 52-week high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.The company’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.93%.

About Xcel Energy

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.