Allianz Asset Management GmbH Sells 474,640 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lessened its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 877,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 474,640 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $59,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 118,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,011,000 after purchasing an additional 71,798 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 7,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 17,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $69.94 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The firm has a market cap of $40.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.68.

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

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th were paid a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.66%.

About Xcel Energy

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.