CoreFirst Bank & Trust Invests $237,000 in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 3,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 23,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. GenTrust LLC grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 3,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integris Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $68.86 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.12. The company has a market cap of $39.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.58 and a twelve month high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 acquired at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on XEL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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 decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.30.

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.