Cornerstone Advisors LLC Sells 25,000 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 71.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,854,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,046,000 after acquiring an additional 174,653 shares during the period. Bruce & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. Bruce & Co. Inc. now owns 196,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,468,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Teilinger Capital Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. Teilinger Capital Ltd. now owns 600,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,046,000 after purchasing an additional 210,000 shares during the last quarter. OV Management LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. OV Management LLC now owns 22,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 57.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,270,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,864,000 after buying an additional 465,884 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $64.50 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $64.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp boosted 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.00.

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.