Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Sold by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise reduced its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 27.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $47,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,665,677,000 after acquiring an additional 8,644,054 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,994,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,435 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,766,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,796,000 after purchasing an additional 261,426 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,171,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,345,000 after buying an additional 106,218 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,954,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,643,000 after buying an additional 86,696 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on XEL. Bank of America increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $53.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $65.62. The stock has a market cap of $29.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.49.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.77%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.