Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $2.77 Million Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 49.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,397 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,763 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after buying an additional 892,740 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,091,000 after purchasing an additional 262,191 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,777,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,023,000 after purchasing an additional 11,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,625,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 208,233 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on XEL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of 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 cut their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.10.

Insider Activity

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $70.24 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.94. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. Research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.28%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.