Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 1,449 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,210 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,449 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 70,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,359,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Epiq Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 29,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 5,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $57.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 605,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,481,114. The stock has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.37. 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 one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $64.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.16.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, July 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

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.