Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Lowers Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 65.3%, owning only 1,813 shares after selling 3,416 shares in the second quarter.
• Xcel Energy reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.75 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.66, while revenue stood at $3.29 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.57, which will be paid on October 20th, 2023, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.8%.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,813 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,416 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,818,158 shares of the company's stock worth $5,296,377,000 after acquiring an additional 986,170 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 31.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,809,978 shares of the company's stock worth $1,827,090,000 after acquiring an additional 6,109,190 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,811,241 shares of the company's stock worth $1,473,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520,092 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,967,952 shares of the company's stock worth $422,471,000 after acquiring an additional 328,845 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,711,917 shares of the company's stock worth $404,347,000 after acquiring an additional 33,469 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.7%

XEL stock opened at $81.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.12 and a 12 month high of $82.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.21.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 10.52%. Xcel Energy's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Xcel Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is 63.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on XEL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $92.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.73.

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.

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