First Horizon Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,073 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FFT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $226,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 9,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,312 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 5,209 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,766,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,796,000 after buying an additional 261,426 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XEL. TheStreet lowered 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 objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $54.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.89. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $69.85. The company has a market cap of $30.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.36.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

About Xcel Energy

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.