Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys 1,797 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 84,623 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,797 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $5,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 566.3% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of XEL opened at $69.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.54. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th were paid a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.66%.

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.