Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Grows Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lifted its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 226.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,354 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 29,376 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $3,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 1,975 shares in the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 132.0% in the 3rd quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 6,293 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 174.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 513,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,414,000 after acquiring an additional 326,513 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 91.8% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 89,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,195,000 after purchasing an additional 42,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $76.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $84.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on XEL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $81.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.44.

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.