abrdn plc Buys 9,803 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

abrdn plc increased its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 190,396 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,803 shares during the period. abrdn plc's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $12,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company's stock worth $2,445,477,000 after buying an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company's stock worth $163,840,000 after buying an additional 2,104,405 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,301,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company's stock worth $991,956,000 after buying an additional 892,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company's stock worth $54,797,000 after buying an additional 777,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.31 on Tuesday, reaching $67.19. 2,284,191 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,570,559. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $73.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $67.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.08. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. Analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th were issued a $0.5475 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on XEL. 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 note on Friday. Barclays cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three 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, Xcel Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.91.

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.