Versor Investments LP Cuts Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Versor Investments LP trimmed its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 72.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,177 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,241 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,472,435 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,684,499 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,264,000 after purchasing an additional 74,690 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,171,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,345,000 after purchasing an additional 106,218 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.4% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,625,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,372,000 after purchasing an additional 38,653 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $63.46 on Friday. 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 $35.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.30.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on XEL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Argus upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. 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, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.92.

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.