Nordea Investment Management AB Decreases Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Nordea Investment Management AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,498,528 shares of the company’s stock after selling 493,111 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $185,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after buying an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,896,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,914,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752,296 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 28,851,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,326,872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,406 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,026,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,695,748,000 after acquiring an additional 831,639 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,526,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,574,842,000 after purchasing an additional 807,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $76.77 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $84.23. The company has a market cap of $47.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.45.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Argus set a $86.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.44.

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.