Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $8.10 Million Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,999 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,700 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $8,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of XEL. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $64,301,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after purchasing an additional 892,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,797,000 after purchasing an additional 777,696 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ XEL opened at $66.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.42 and a 200-day moving average of $63.39. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XEL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

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.