Claro Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Claro Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,938 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,737 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 298,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,448,000 after purchasing an additional 7,679 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $896,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its position in Xcel Energy by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 325,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,131,000 after acquiring an additional 11,709 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 115,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,121,000 after acquiring an additional 37,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 930.5% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 45,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after acquiring an additional 41,462 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:XEL traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $52.43. 2,158,392 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,774,862. 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 company has a market cap of $29.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.31. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $65.62.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.