Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 3,706 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,979 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,706 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $5,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 worth $3,665,677,000 after buying an additional 8,644,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,521,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,059,821,000 after buying an additional 2,559,321 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Xcel Energy by 8.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,504,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,414,000 after buying an additional 583,318 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Xcel Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,739,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,396,000 after buying an additional 90,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Xcel Energy by 11.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $55.01 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $70.97. The company has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.36. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.88 and its 200 day moving average is $58.10.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 12.47%. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 68.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. 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 note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays raised Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average 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.