Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,395 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,183 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 770.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,684,499 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 1st quarter worth $80,283,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position 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 last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1,765.0% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 932,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,122,000 after buying an additional 882,505 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 155.3% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,140,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,630,000 after buying an additional 693,921 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on XEL. Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.92.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $61.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $64.25. The stock has a market cap of $34.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.20.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

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.