Westpac Banking Corp Trims Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 60.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,918 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the third quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on XEL. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday, June 8th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, New Street Research set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.65.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $80.19 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.20. The firm has a market cap of $50.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.16 and a 52-week high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 68.30%.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.