Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,764 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the quarter. Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 189,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,404,000 after acquiring an additional 12,477 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 85.0% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 231,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,116,000 after buying an additional 106,326 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 27,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after buying an additional 10,821 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 393.0% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,708,000 after acquiring an additional 252,793 shares during the period. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth about $532,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $66.72 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.41 and a 200-day moving average of $63.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $38.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 64.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.67.

Xcel Energy 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.