Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Holdings Cut by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 16.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,033 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,860 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $7,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in XEL. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,262,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,788,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157,602 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 10.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,719,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,274,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,746,066 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 29.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,366,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654,505 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2,324.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,716,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645,571 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 100.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,519,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,548,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,439 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $74.42 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $44.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.58 and a 12 month high of $83.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.83.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.08). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 29th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 69.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on XEL. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.29.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.