Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Has $16.20 Million Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 237,789 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,852 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $16,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 447.1% during the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 51,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,470,000 after buying an additional 42,001 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 189,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,404,000 after acquiring an additional 12,477 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $278,000. ING Groep NV raised its position in Xcel Energy by 85.0% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 231,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,116,000 after purchasing an additional 106,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GEN Financial Management INC. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $301,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp increased 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. 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $68.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $73.38. The company has a market capitalization of $39.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $67.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.27.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th were given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.66%.

Xcel Energy 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.