Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Trims Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lowered its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 237,627 shares of the company’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $14,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 293.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on XEL. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.58.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $53.96 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $70.72. The company has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.07.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 13.36%. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.548 dividend. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.