Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Buys Shares of 14,169 Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in XEL. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on XEL. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL opened at $68.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $39.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.28%.

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.