Two Sigma Securities LLC Makes New Investment in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 42,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,404,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its position in Xcel Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $76.45 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.29 and a 12-month high of $84.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.77.

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

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XEL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho set a $92.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Company 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.