Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,728 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,907 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $8,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,665,677,000 after buying an additional 8,644,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,521,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559,321 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 8.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,504,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,414,000 after purchasing an additional 583,318 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,739,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,396,000 after purchasing an additional 90,819 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Xcel Energy by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,303,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,440,000 after buying an additional 550,508 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet downgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Xcel Energy stock opened at $54.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.86. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $69.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.94.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s dividend 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.