Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Sold by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 91.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 885,771 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $4,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 214,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,298,000 after purchasing an additional 11,348 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 226,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,017,000 after buying an additional 91,346 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,296,000 after buying an additional 2,916 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 202,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,566,000 after acquiring an additional 8,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 237,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,689,000 after acquiring an additional 35,618 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XEL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.0 %

XEL opened at $65.32 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $65.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $36.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 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 company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. 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.