Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 43.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,085 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,476 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Midwest Trust Co acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 14,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after buying an additional 4,010 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 8,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 26,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.88.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $79.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $84.23.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 68.30%.

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.