Public Sector Pension Investment Board Reduces Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board reduced its stake in Xcel Energy by 48.6% in the first quarter, now holding 153,532 shares valued at approximately $10.87 million.
• Xcel Energy reported earnings of $0.75 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, while revenue reached $3.29 billion, slightly below expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.57, with a payout ratio of 63.16%, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board reduced its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 48.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 153,532 shares of the company's stock after selling 145,431 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $10,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 16,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 33,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on XEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays raised 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL traded down $0.46 on Friday, reaching $71.93. The company had a trading volume of 7,792,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,455,766. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.04 and a 52-week high of $74.57. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $69.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.54 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.34. 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 (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 14.85%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.16%.

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.