HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 149,542 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,935 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $12,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $76.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.35 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.48 and a 200 day moving average of $79.55. The firm has a market cap of $47.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Mizuho set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.41.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc is a Minneapolis-based electric and natural gas utility holding company that serves customers across parts of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Through its operating companies, Xcel provides electricity generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas distribution and related energy services.

The company operates a diversified generating fleet that includes wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas and other resources.