Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 13,615 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 389.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,108 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,615 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after buying an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,405 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $64,301,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,956,000 after purchasing an additional 892,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,797,000 after purchasing an additional 777,696 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.4 %

XEL stock opened at $67.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.75. 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, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a $0.5475 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 64.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.67.

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.