SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 231 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,009 shares of the company’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 114,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,541,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in Xcel Energy by 2.8% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 70,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,018,000 after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 37.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 313,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,914,000 after acquiring an additional 84,670 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Xcel Energy by 4.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 131,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,525,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $79,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of XEL stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $54.25. 2,953,949 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,365,063. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $69.85. The stock has a market cap of $30.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.36.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

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.