UBS Group AG Sells 626,353 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

UBS Group AG trimmed its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,370,093 shares of the company’s stock after selling 626,353 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $175,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 168.4% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 394.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on XEL shares. Argus set a $86.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.88.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL opened at $78.82 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $84.23. The stock has a market cap of $49.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.66 and a 200-day moving average of $78.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 13.76%.The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th 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 of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 69.30%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.