Cypress Capital Group Sells 6,129 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Cypress Capital Group reduced its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 36.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,736 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,129 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $725,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after purchasing an additional 892,740 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,091,000 after purchasing an additional 262,191 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,777,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,023,000 after purchasing an additional 11,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,625,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,817,000 after buying an additional 208,233 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.9 %

Xcel Energy stock opened at $68.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $39.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.