Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Invests $229,000 in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after purchasing an additional 892,740 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,091,000 after purchasing an additional 262,191 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,777,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,023,000 after purchasing an additional 11,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,625,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 208,233 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on XEL shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of XEL stock opened at $68.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.89 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. On average, equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.28%.

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.