Nebula Research & Development LLC Buys 11,532 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 81.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,769 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,532 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,831,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,985,136,000 after purchasing an additional 953,002 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company's stock worth $1,302,538,000 after buying an additional 1,022,194 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company's stock worth $1,189,246,000 after buying an additional 2,422,483 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,178,956 shares of the company's stock worth $1,029,223,000 after buying an additional 616,853 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,608,044 shares of the company's stock worth $446,175,000 after buying an additional 3,581,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish purchased 2,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the completion of 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL traded up $0.58 on Monday, reaching $69.58. 2,994,500 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,589,632. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $40.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $69.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.15. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.97 and a 52-week high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Xcel Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.82.

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.