APG Asset Management N.V. Decreases Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

APG Asset Management N.V. lessened its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 537,717 shares of the company’s stock after selling 807,500 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.10% of Xcel Energy worth $26,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 770.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,955,000 after buying an additional 6,684,499 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,264,000 after acquiring an additional 74,690 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 120.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,025 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 130.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 10.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,854,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,046,000 after purchasing an additional 174,653 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Argus upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.14.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $64.57 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $64.95. The company has a market cap of $35.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.38. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $60.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.34.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.