New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 57,829 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 436,231 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,829 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $29,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 447.1% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 51,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,470,000 after acquiring an additional 42,001 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 7.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 189,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,404,000 after purchasing an additional 12,477 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $278,000. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 85.0% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 231,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,116,000 after purchasing an additional 106,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GEN Financial Management INC. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $301,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $68.61 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $39.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.05 and a 200 day moving average of $65.27.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th were given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 63.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on XEL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.91.

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.