LRI Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 2,603 Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $145,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 298,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,448,000 after buying an additional 7,679 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $896,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 325,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,131,000 after purchasing an additional 11,709 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 115,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,121,000 after buying an additional 37,131 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,614,000 after buying an additional 121,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL traded up $0.49 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.36. 3,434,870 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,516,956. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $64.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.32 and a 200 day moving average of $55.21. The stock has a market cap of $31.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XEL. StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

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.