Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Sold by Great Waters Wealth Management

Great Waters Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,334 shares of the company’s stock after selling 981 shares during the quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,301,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after buying an additional 892,740 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,797,000 after buying an additional 777,696 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.67.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of XEL opened at $66.72 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $73.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.75. The company has a market capitalization of $38.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be given a $0.5475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 64.99%.

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.