Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 80.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 205,441 shares of the company's stock after selling 827,814 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $13,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company's stock worth $1,401,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,306,380 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,608,044 shares of the company's stock worth $446,175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,581,436 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,625.7% during the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,667,200 shares of the company's stock worth $247,609,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454,700 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 236.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,878,279 shares of the company's stock worth $329,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429,353 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 379.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,022,085 shares of the company's stock worth $271,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182,939 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.88. 534,228 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,624,008. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.94. The company has a market capitalization of $40.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.97 and a 52-week high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on XEL shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.90.

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.