Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $99.05 Million Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 10.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,854,333 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 174,653 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $99,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 116,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,193,000 after buying an additional 1,869 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 21,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 9,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 179,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,137,000 after purchasing an additional 9,312 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $64.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.97. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $64.95. The firm has a market cap of $35.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.31 and its 200-day moving average is $56.15.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.79.

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.