Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,270,000 shares, a decrease of 20.9% from the May 15th total of 9,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on XEL. StockNews.com upgraded Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TheStreet lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xcel Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 15.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,665,677,000 after buying an additional 8,644,054 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 770.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,684,499 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the first quarter worth about $80,283,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,994,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,435 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 216.1% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,627,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,510 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of XEL opened at $53.77 on Friday. Xcel Energy has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $65.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.60 and a 200 day moving average of $56.90. The firm has a market cap of $29.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

About Xcel Energy

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.