Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Sold by Altshuler Shaham Ltd

Altshuler Shaham Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,665,677,000 after purchasing an additional 8,644,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,521,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559,321 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 216.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,627,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,510 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 184.9% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,451,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,861,000 after acquiring an additional 942,097 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 247.8% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,284,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,511,000 after buying an additional 915,046 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL traded up $0.31 on Thursday, hitting $55.24. 4,350,946 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,315,395. The firm has a market cap of $30.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $69.71.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on XEL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. TheStreet downgraded Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.83.

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.