Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Purchases 9,510 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,087 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,510 shares during the period. Xcel Energy accounts for about 1.2% of Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $6,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 770.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,955,000 after buying an additional 6,684,499 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $80,283,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,994,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,435 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 1,765.0% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 932,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,122,000 after purchasing an additional 882,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 725.1% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 907,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,444,000 after purchasing an additional 797,096 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.92.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.91. 4,731,757 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,280,849. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $34.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.30. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $64.25.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.548 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

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.