Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,204,285 shares of the company’s stock after selling 82,686 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.37% of Xcel Energy worth $177,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,187,929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Xcel Energy by 0.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,144,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,344,295,000 after purchasing an additional 126,790 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 9.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,262,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,788,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157,602 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,026,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,695,748,000 after purchasing an additional 831,639 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,526,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,842,000 after purchasing an additional 807,353 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $82.52 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.47. The stock has a market cap of $51.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.96. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.60.

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.