Rothschild Investment LLC Boosts Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 731 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $49,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. State Street Corp lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 520.1% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,405 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,301,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in 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 valued at $991,956,000 after acquiring an additional 892,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,797,000 after acquiring an additional 777,696 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $69.97 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.94. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The company has a market capitalization of $40.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 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, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.91.

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.