Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Grows Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 391,107 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,782 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned approximately 0.07% of Xcel Energy worth $26,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Xcel Energy by 7.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 189,954 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,404,000 after acquiring an additional 12,477 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company's stock worth $952,091,000 after acquiring an additional 262,191 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,367 shares of the company's stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 19.6% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 336,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,958,000 after purchasing an additional 55,018 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the company's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley increased 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 note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of XEL traded down $0.18 on Wednesday, reaching $70.09. 694,448 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,584,650. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.72. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.97 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39. 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 issued 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 return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. Research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is 66.28%.

Insider Activity at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,272.51. This trade represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by 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.