Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Sells 2,098 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 25.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,170 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,098 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 293.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $55.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $30.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $71.32.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 12.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

About Xcel Energy

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.