RFG Advisory LLC Acquires 1,804 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 33.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,253 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $490,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $33,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth $35,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 566.3% in 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 period. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XEL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.50.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $67.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $39.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $73.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its 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). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 64.99%.

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.