Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $5.07 Million Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 37.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 63,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,037 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $5,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,434,000 after buying an additional 14,029 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.8% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of XEL stock opened at $77.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.16 and a 1 year high of $84.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. New Street Research set a $91.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Mizuho set a $92.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.76.

About Xcel Energy

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.