NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Has $271,000 Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,018 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price target on Xcel Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 price target on Xcel Energy and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.90.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $70.20 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.97 and a 12-month high of $73.38. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.96. The stock has a market cap of $40.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Insider Transactions at Xcel Energy

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

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.