New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 10,000 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 240,598 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $16,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

XEL stock opened at $69.94 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.73. The stock has a market cap of $40.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th were paid a $0.5475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 63.66%.

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.