Westpac Banking Corp Trims Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,246 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,453 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,831,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,985,136,000 after purchasing an additional 953,002 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after buying an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,291,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,538,000 after buying an additional 1,022,194 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,613,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,189,246,000 after buying an additional 2,422,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,178,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,223,000 after acquiring an additional 616,853 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $72.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.97 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.42. The company has a market capitalization of $41.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. On average, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on XEL shares. Barclays raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

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.