Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 317,938 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 60.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 844,144 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 317,938 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.15% of Xcel Energy worth $55,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 26.9% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 23,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after buying an additional 4,970 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the first quarter worth about $5,111,000. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC now owns 314,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,905,000 after buying an additional 4,589 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $827,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,625,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,372,000 after acquiring an additional 38,653 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.54.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $65.11 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.91 and a 200-day moving average of $57.74. 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 capitalization of $36.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $65.64.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.37%.

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.