Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Stake Lessened by Aristotle Capital Management LLC

Aristotle Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,162,728 shares of the company’s stock after selling 734,925 shares during the period. Xcel Energy comprises 1.9% of Aristotle Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Aristotle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $980,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 716,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,818,000 after purchasing an additional 48,890 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 21.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 365,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,461,000 after buying an additional 64,132 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 39.2% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 579,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,756,000 after buying an additional 163,337 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 215,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,351,000 after buying an additional 67,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Socorro Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,455,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.3%

Xcel Energy stock opened at $81.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. Xcel Energy’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Key Headlines Impacting Xcel Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Xcel Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts maintain a favorable view — XEL recently received an average “Buy” rating from analysts, which supports investor confidence. Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts
• Positive Sentiment: Storm-response readiness highlighted — Xcel says crews are staged and ready to respond to outages from the winter storm, which reduces operational risk and limits potential outage duration. Workers ready to respond to outages during winter storm, Xcel Energy says
• Positive Sentiment: Planned logistics/maintenance underway — Xcel is moving equipment this weekend (with some traffic impacts), indicating proactive grid work to manage storm impacts. Xcel Energy moving equipment this weekend with impacts to traffic on I-25 near exit 243
• Neutral Sentiment: Safety outreach — Xcel and the American Red Cross published severe‑weather safety tips for customers; this is reputationally positive but not material to near‑term financials. Xcel Energy, American Red Cross offer tips to stay safe during severe weather
• Neutral Sentiment: Market performance context — commentary that XEL is outperforming the Nasdaq provides sentiment context but doesn’t change fundamentals. Is Xcel Energy stock outperforming the Nasdaq?
• Negative Sentiment: Environmental/operational risk — Xcel confirmed mineral oil leaked into the Mississippi River near the Monticello nuclear plant. Even if described as a “small amount,” the incident raises potential cleanup, regulatory and reputational costs. Xcel Energy confirms mineral oil leaked into Mississippi River near Monticello nuclear plant
• Negative Sentiment: Planned/preventive power shutoffs — Weather alerts indicate likely shutoffs that could affect tens of thousands of customers (reports cite ~43,000 at risk in Colorado), increasing short‑term customer disruption and outage-management costs. Xcel Energy: Power shutoff ‘likely’ Saturday in Boulder, Jefferson counties
• Negative Sentiment: Wider storm impacts in the Upper Midwest — Xcel warns of outages in Wisconsin and recent wind events left 20k+ Minnesota customers without power, signaling elevated storm-related operational costs across service territories. Xcel Energy warns of outages in Wisconsin amid forecasted snowstorm

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Argus set a $86.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.44.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.