Raymond James & Associates Has $70.46 Million Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Raymond James & Associates cut its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,078,988 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,821 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.19% of Xcel Energy worth $70,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. American National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on XEL. UBS Group upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.29.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $63.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.62. 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 one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $65.64.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 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 firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research 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 was paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s 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.