Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $1.63 Million Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 42.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,354 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in XEL. USA Financial Formulas grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 491.3% during the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 21,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,583,000 after buying an additional 17,810 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,357,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,116,000 after acquiring an additional 150,768 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 175.0% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 29,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 18,550 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 226.4% in the 4th quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 42,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,128,000 after acquiring an additional 29,376 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 277,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,410,000 after acquiring an additional 77,202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on XEL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $91.29.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ XEL opened at $81.98 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.49. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.56 and a 52-week high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $51.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.30%.

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.