Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Invests $445,000 in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 6,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 56.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 6,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 2,158 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $66.61 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $68.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.90. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $38.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a $0.5475 dividend. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 64.99%.

About Xcel Energy

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.