CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Cuts Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co decreased its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 307,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 904 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $16,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 298,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,448,000 after buying an additional 7,679 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $896,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 325,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,131,000 after purchasing an additional 11,709 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 115,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,614,000 after purchasing an additional 121,118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $56.69. 2,065,233 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,496,083. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $65.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.30.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

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.