HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,604 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,741 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $6,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 447.1% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 51,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,470,000 after acquiring an additional 42,001 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 189,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,404,000 after purchasing an additional 12,477 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $278,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Xcel Energy by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 27,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after buying an additional 10,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GEN Financial Management INC. purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.10.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ XEL opened at $70.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 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, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.28%.

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.