Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $76.40 Million Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,131,567 shares of the company’s stock after selling 147,854 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $76,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on XEL. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.30.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $69.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.25. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.97 and a 12-month high of $73.38. 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 (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 net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.