Altshuler Shaham Ltd Sells 1,075 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd reduced its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,296 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,075 shares during the quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 26,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 29.1% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 20.1% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 70,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,359,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $55.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,350,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,315,395. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $69.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.05 and a 200-day moving average of $57.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on XEL. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.83.

Xcel Energy 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.