Financial Perspectives Inc Lowers Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Financial Perspectives Inc reduced its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 41.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,473 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 298,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,448,000 after purchasing an additional 7,679 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $896,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 325,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,131,000 after buying an additional 11,709 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 115,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,121,000 after buying an additional 37,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 930.5% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 45,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,627,000 after buying an additional 41,462 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

XEL traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $52.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,178,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,996,160. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $65.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

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.