Bleakley Financial Group LLC Sells 1,442 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,565 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,442 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on XEL. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.57.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ XEL opened at $64.07 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $62.61 and its 200 day moving average is $57.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $65.64. The company has a market cap of $35.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.