Summit Financial LLC Sells 590 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Summit Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,978 shares of the company’s stock after selling 590 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew 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 valued at $1,059,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559,321 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,766,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,796,000 after purchasing an additional 261,426 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised 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 period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,303,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,440,000 after buying an additional 550,508 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. TheStreet downgraded Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $54.25 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $69.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $30.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $53.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.94.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The company’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.548 per share. 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 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.77%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.