MetLife Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 151,999 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,061 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $10,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,581,436 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,189,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422,483 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $83,653,000. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 440.2% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,455,927 shares of the company's stock worth $98,304,000 after buying an additional 1,186,427 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,007 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 target price on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.18.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded down $1.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.00. The company had a trading volume of 4,816,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,603,462. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.97 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is a boost 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%.

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.