Vanguard Group Inc. Has $4.99 Billion Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,831,988 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 953,002 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.86% of Xcel Energy worth $4,985,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.30.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ XEL opened at $68.86 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.58 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.12. The company has a market capitalization of $39.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37.

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 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.28%.

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.