SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 89.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110,943 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 770.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,955,000 after buying an additional 6,684,499 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,264,000 after buying an additional 74,690 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 120.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,095,000 after buying an additional 1,299,025 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 130.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,325,000 after buying an additional 1,179,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 174,653 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $62.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.18. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $65.64. The stock has a market cap of $34.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued 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 business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.548 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

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.