Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Sold by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lowered its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 60.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,768 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 8,644,054 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.9% during the 4th 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. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 184.9% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,451,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,861,000 after purchasing an additional 942,097 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 247.8% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,284,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,511,000 after purchasing an additional 915,046 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 155.3% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,140,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,630,000 after acquiring an additional 693,921 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $52.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 139,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,694,033. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $65.62. The company has a market capitalization of $29.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $54.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.5475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on XEL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

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.