Aventail Capital Group LP Sells 620,376 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Aventail Capital Group LP lowered its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 73.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 225,113 shares of the company’s stock after selling 620,376 shares during the quarter. Xcel Energy comprises approximately 1.0% of Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $16,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of XEL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth $27,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in Xcel Energy by 394.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in Xcel Energy by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $77.46 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $84.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.91. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on XEL. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Argus set a $86.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $90.63.

About Xcel Energy

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.