Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 7,097 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,519,637 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,097 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.26% of Xcel Energy worth $112,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001,018 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,994,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in Xcel Energy by 86.6% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,339,000 after buying an additional 19,214 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,176,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 94.0% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,511,000 after buying an additional 15,083 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $80.45 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $84.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $80.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $50.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.43.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on XEL shares. Mizuho set a $86.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $94.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.44.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.