Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $1.19 Billion Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,613,239 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,422,483 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 3.07% of Xcel Energy worth $1,189,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of XEL opened at $70.72 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.97 and a 12-month 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 (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 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.