Ballast Advisors LLC Raises Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Ballast Advisors LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,052 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 62.9% during the second quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on XEL. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. BTIG Research raised shares of Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $86.23.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $80.39 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.58 and a 12-month high of $83.01. The company has a market capitalization of $47.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.12.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 10.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Xcel Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 63.16%.

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.