Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys 10,700 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,999 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,700 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $8,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of XEL. State Street Corp boosted 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 valued at $2,445,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 892,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,091,000 after acquiring an additional 262,191 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,417,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,170,000 after acquiring an additional 67,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.67.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of XEL stock opened at $66.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.99%.

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.