Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Boosts Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,573,894 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,090,208 shares during the period. Xcel Energy makes up about 1.5% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned approximately 1.14% of Xcel Energy worth $443,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on XEL. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.30.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $69.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $68.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.25. The company has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.97 and a 1-year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 66.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.