Quantitative Investment Management LLC Invests $745,000 in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,404,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 14.0% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,103,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,196,000 after buying an additional 380,438 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 8.1% in the second quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 29,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,367,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.7% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 94,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,627,000 after buying an additional 3,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 14.9% during the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 18,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,510,000 after acquiring an additional 2,435 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.3%

XEL stock opened at $75.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.29 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.10 and its 200 day moving average is $79.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on XEL. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $92.41.

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.