Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,519,637 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,097 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $112,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Xcel Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $6,994,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in Xcel Energy by 86.6% in the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 19,214 shares during the last quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $1,176,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 94.0% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,511,000 after purchasing an additional 15,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 2.3%

XEL stock opened at $80.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.78.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Argus set a $86.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.44.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.