Carret Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Carret Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,665,677,000 after acquiring an additional 8,644,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,521,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,059,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559,321 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,504,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,414,000 after purchasing an additional 583,318 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,739,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,396,000 after purchasing an additional 90,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,303,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,440,000 after purchasing an additional 550,508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ XEL traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $55.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,562,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,348,081. The company has a market capitalization of $30.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $70.97.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 12.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.548 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 68.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. TheStreet lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Profile

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.