Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $164.07 Million Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,512,582 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,726 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.44% of Xcel Energy worth $164,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the third 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 boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the third 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,417,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,170,000 after purchasing an additional 67,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after buying an additional 2,104,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on XEL. Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $66.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.63 and a 200-day moving average of $61.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.99%.

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.