Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $132.21 Million Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,958,134 shares of the company’s stock after selling 92,572 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $132,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $127,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 48,200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 16,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 16,388 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $230,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,797,000 after purchasing an additional 777,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 48.4% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 18,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XEL. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $67.89 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.97 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.