Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $8.67 Million Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 109,177 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,969 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $8,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after acquiring an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.5%

XEL stock opened at $78.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.16 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.56 and its 200-day moving average is $79.05.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.91. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.Xcel Energy’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 68.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on XEL. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, June 26th. New Street Research set a $91.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.76.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.