Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 237,519 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,272 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $14,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,665,677,000 after buying an additional 8,644,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,521,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559,321 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,504,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,414,000 after acquiring an additional 583,318 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,739,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,396,000 after acquiring an additional 90,819 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,303,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,440,000 after acquiring an additional 550,508 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $54.96. 3,996,068 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,411,757. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $30.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.08 and a 200-day moving average of $58.15. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $71.32.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 12.47%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. TheStreet cut Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays raised Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.83.

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.