HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 18.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 149,542 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,935 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $12,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,890,136,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 8,419.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,315,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,682,732,000 after purchasing an additional 57,630,988 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter worth $891,688,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth $708,086,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth $503,543,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $76.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.35 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.55.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.The firm’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $92.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy Inc is a Minneapolis-based electric and natural gas utility holding company that serves customers across parts of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Through its operating companies, Xcel provides electricity generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas distribution and related energy services.

The company operates a diversified generating fleet that includes wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas and other resources.