LPL Financial LLC Has $67.91 Million Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 38.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,271,494 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 350,056 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Xcel Energy worth $67,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its position in Xcel Energy by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 670,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,787,000 after purchasing an additional 24,083 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 37,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 26,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Xcel Energy by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 112,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,982,000 after purchasing an additional 11,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.92.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

XEL stock opened at $63.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $58.77 and a 200-day moving average of $55.49. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $64.43.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

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.