Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 7,542 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,861 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,542 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 30.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position 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 lifted its position 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 worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $75.89 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.29 and a 52 week high of $84.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.10 and its 200-day moving average is $79.74.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 64.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho set a $92.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, New Street Research set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Profile

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.