Bruce & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Bruce & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Xcel Energy comprises 3.4% of Bruce & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Bruce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $10,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 97,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,050,000 after buying an additional 10,546 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $495,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Xcel Energy by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 9,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the period. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,603,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XEL. Argus upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.92.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

XEL stock opened at $63.84 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $64.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.46.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

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.