STF Management LP Sells 358 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

STF Management LP reduced its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 358 shares during the quarter. STF Management LP’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 770.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,955,000 after purchasing an additional 6,684,499 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the first quarter worth $80,283,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 120.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,025 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 130.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,823 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 1,765.0% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 932,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,122,000 after purchasing an additional 882,505 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on XEL shares. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $64.56 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.54. The company has a market cap of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $64.95.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.77%.

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.