BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Cuts Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lessened its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 44.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,901 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,505 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,994,000. USA Financial Formulas boosted 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 valued at $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 17,810 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 135.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,017,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,125,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,425,000 after acquiring an additional 122,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ XEL opened at $77.87 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $90.63.

Xcel Energy 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.