Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Takes Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 15,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,238,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Magellan Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth about $226,328,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $708,086,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $15,386,000. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter valued at $129,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter valued at $4,235,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XEL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. New Street Research set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ XEL opened at $77.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.74. The company has a market capitalization of $48.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.29 and a 12 month high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.The company’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.93%.

About Xcel Energy

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.