Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Sold by Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC

Key Points

• Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC reduced its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.6% in Q3, selling 35,336 shares and now owning 6,184,668 shares (about 1.05% of XEL, valued at $498.8M), making it the firm's 22nd largest holding and roughly 1.6% of its portfolio.
• Xcel Energy increased its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37) from $0.57, implying a 2.9% yield; the ex-dividend date is March 13 and the dividend is payable April 20.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $88.60 and recent targets ranging roughly $84–$94 (three Strong Buy, twelve Buy, one Hold, one Sell).

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC reduced its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,184,668 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,336 shares during the period. Xcel Energy accounts for about 1.6% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 1.05% of Xcel Energy worth $498,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 168.4% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 314 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 202.2% during the 2nd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 417 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth $38,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $88.60.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ XEL opened at $81.88 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $77.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.71. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The stock has a market cap of $51.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.45.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

About Xcel Energy

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.

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