Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Cuts Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 38.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,803 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,888 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $6,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,103,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,196,000 after acquiring an additional 380,438 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its position in Xcel Energy by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 29,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,367,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 94,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,627,000 after acquiring an additional 3,407 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 14.9% in the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 18,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 25.0% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 364,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,242,000 after purchasing an additional 72,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $75.51 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.29 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.72.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current 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 $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 64.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Xcel Energy from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $92.41.

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.