Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Sold by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lessened its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 29.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,861 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,542 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,103,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,196,000 after purchasing an additional 380,438 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 8.1% during the second quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 29,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.7% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 94,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,627,000 after purchasing an additional 3,407 shares in the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 14.9% during the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 18,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 25.0% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 364,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,242,000 after purchasing an additional 72,720 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $75.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $71.29 and a one year high of $84.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.74.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The company’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 64.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XEL. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, New Street Research set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $92.41.

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.