Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Sold by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 623,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,606 shares during the quarter. Xcel Energy makes up 1.3% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $46,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 12,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA grew its position in Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 11,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL opened at $77.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $79.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Argus set a $86.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.63.

Xcel Energy Company 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.