E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Sells 571 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,494 shares of the company’s stock after selling 571 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of XEL. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 37.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 313,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,914,000 after buying an additional 84,670 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 131,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,525,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 172,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,876,000 after purchasing an additional 8,242 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 166.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 162,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,065,000 after purchasing an additional 101,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 559,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,989,000 after purchasing an additional 95,629 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $55.24. The stock had a trading volume of 4,373,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,315,395. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $69.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.36.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.548 dividend. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.83.

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.