Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Buys 1,090,208 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,573,894 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,090,208 shares during the quarter. Xcel Energy accounts for about 1.5% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $443,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,831,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,985,136,000 after purchasing an additional 953,002 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,194 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,878,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429,353 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.30.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of XEL opened at $69.72 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $68.59 and its 200 day moving average is $67.25. 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 12-month low of $51.97 and a 12-month high of $73.38. The company has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. Research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 66.28%.

About Xcel Energy

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.