Horizon Investments LLC Purchases 198 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,390 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after buying an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,405 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $83,653,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 440.2% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,455,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,427 shares during the period. Finally, Burkehill Global Management LP purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $67,520,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $70.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $73.38. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.94.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.