Advisory Alpha LLC Has $306,000 Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Advisory Alpha LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 47.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,139 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,956,000 after buying an additional 892,740 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,091,000 after buying an additional 262,191 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,417,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,170,000 after buying an additional 67,820 shares during the period. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after buying an additional 2,104,405 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $66.06 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.88. The firm has a market cap of $37.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 64.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.50.

Xcel Energy 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.