Sigma Planning Corp Decreases Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 24.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,874 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,230 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $3,665,677,000 after purchasing an additional 8,644,054 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 16.0% in 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 period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 8.4% in 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 period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.6% in 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 period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position 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 valued at $303,440,000 after acquiring 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 Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $55.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $71.32.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XEL. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.