Employees Retirement System of Texas Trims Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 50.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,867 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,449 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $3,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 394.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $81.00 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The company has a market cap of $50.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.41.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The business had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XEL. Argus set a $86.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $90.63.

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.