Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Purchased by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 184.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,451,483 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 942,097 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.26% of Xcel Energy worth $89,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of XEL. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 26,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 70,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,359,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $54.96 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.83.

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.