Country Trust Bank Acquires 1,401 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Country Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 507.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,677 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of XEL. Integris Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Gries Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 3,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 4,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 204,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,821,000 after purchasing an additional 36,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on XEL. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.64.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $66.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $73.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th were paid a $0.5475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Xcel Energy’s 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.