Newport Trust Company LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Newport Trust Company LLC lowered its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,027,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 76,268 shares during the period. Xcel Energy makes up 0.7% of Newport Trust Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Newport Trust Company LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $285,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,818,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,296,377,000 after buying an additional 986,170 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Xcel Energy by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,809,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,827,090,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109,190 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Xcel Energy by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,811,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,473,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520,092 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Xcel Energy by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,401,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,306,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Xcel Energy by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,967,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,471,000 after purchasing an additional 328,845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ XEL opened at $73.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.34. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.63 and a 1-year high of $74.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.74.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 14.85%.The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Xcel Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on XEL shares. Mizuho raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price target on Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

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.