Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $73.53 Million Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,088,936 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,633 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned approximately 0.19% of Xcel Energy worth $73,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 7.6% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 124,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,160,000 after acquiring an additional 5,799 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $321,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 75,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,944,000 after purchasing an additional 6,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $70.24 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $68.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.94. 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 52-week low of $51.58 and a 52-week high of $73.38. The stock has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 66.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on XEL. KeyCorp increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.