Wealth Alliance Sells 450 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Wealth Alliance trimmed its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,673 shares of the company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 118,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,011,000 after purchasing an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 7,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 17,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $69.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.52. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. Research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th were paid a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 63.66%.

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.