Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Sells 1,064 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC decreased its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 16.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,411 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,064 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Epiq Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.7% in the first quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 29,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 12,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.1% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.92.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $60.68 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $64.25. The company has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.10. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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 11.00%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

About Xcel Energy

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.