Edge Capital Group LLC Invests $14.07 Million in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 208,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,067,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,956,000 after purchasing an additional 892,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,091,000 after purchasing an additional 262,191 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,417,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,170,000 after purchasing an additional 67,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $69.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.09 and a 200 day moving average of $65.73. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th were given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on XEL shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Barclays dropped their target price on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.91.

About Xcel Energy

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.