JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 1,022,194 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,291,149 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,022,194 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,302,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. State Street Corp raised its position 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 buying an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $83,653,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 440.2% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,455,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burkehill Global Management LP bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $67,520,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

XEL opened at $69.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.18. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.97 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The stock has a market cap of $39.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its 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 return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. As a group, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on XEL. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.30.

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.