Intrust Bank NA Grows Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Intrust Bank NA lifted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,306 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $1,134,000. Horizon Investment Services LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 23,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,557,000 after buying an additional 4,001 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,878,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,381,000 after buying an additional 3,429,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 212,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,366,000 after buying an additional 22,811 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.30.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL opened at $69.72 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $40.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.97 and a 1-year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its 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 return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. Equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. 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. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.