Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,168 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 5,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 60,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,763,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares during the period. Finally, Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 52,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,250,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ XEL opened at $57.36 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $64.77. The company has a market capitalization of $31.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.5475 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

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.