Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 3,194 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,054 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,194 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $2,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of XEL stock opened at $67.89 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.97 and a 52-week high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. On average, analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.28%.

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.