Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $2.30 Million Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,144 shares of the company’s stock after selling 412 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the second quarter worth $30,000. American National Bank acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.54.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

XEL stock opened at $65.11 on Friday. 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 $36.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.39. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.74.

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). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. 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 was paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.548 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.37%.

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.