Larson Financial Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Larson Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,409 shares of the company’s stock after selling 612 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 298,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,448,000 after acquiring an additional 7,679 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 115,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,121,000 after buying an additional 37,131 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 930.5% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 45,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after buying an additional 41,462 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 66.8% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 70,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,359,000 after buying an additional 28,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,665,677,000 after buying an additional 8,644,054 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $55.33 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $53.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.12. The company has a market capitalization of $30.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 12.47%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.548 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 68.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on XEL shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy 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.