Longboard Asset Management LP Purchases Shares of 2,872 Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 953,002 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 6,306,380 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,194 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422,483 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,178,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,223,000 after purchasing an additional 616,853 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.80.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ XEL opened at $66.64 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $38.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.53 and its 200-day moving average is $68.62. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $51.97 and a one year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, July 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

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.