Magellan Asset Management Ltd Trims Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Magellan Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,111,509 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,028 shares during the quarter. Xcel Energy accounts for 1.9% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.36% of Xcel Energy worth $155,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 394.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $77.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $84.23.

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

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 68.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $90.63.

About Xcel Energy

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.