Crestline Management LP Raises Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Crestline Management LP increased its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 752.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 136,449 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,449 shares during the period. Crestline Management LP’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $9,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,831,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,985,136,000 after acquiring an additional 953,002 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,401,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,306,380 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,194 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,246,000 after buying an additional 2,422,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,178,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,223,000 after buying an additional 616,853 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Three 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $70.89 on Tuesday. 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 $40.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.40. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.97 and a 1-year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. 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 3.22%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.