Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Purchases 3,963 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,434 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,963 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in Xcel Energy by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 9,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $350,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,091,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,564,000 after purchasing an additional 63,870 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $483,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 885.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 5,602 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $64.13 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 company has a market cap of $35.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.89 and its 200 day moving average is $55.85. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $64.95.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on XEL. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Xcel Energy in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.79.

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.