National Bank of Canada FI Grows Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 89.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,534,971 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 724,558 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.28% of Xcel Energy worth $80,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Xcel Energy by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,994,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,435 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 770.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,955,000 after buying an additional 6,684,499 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,264,000 after buying an additional 74,690 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,171,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,345,000 after buying an additional 106,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.4% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,625,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,372,000 after buying an additional 38,653 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ XEL opened at $63.46 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $64.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.48 and its 200 day moving average is $55.30.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.92.

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.