ABN Amro Investment Solutions Cuts Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

ABN Amro Investment Solutions reduced its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 52.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,062 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55,034 shares during the quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions’ holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $3,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 394.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 365.3% in the first quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 349 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on XEL shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. New Street Research set a $91.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $92.65.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $80.77 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.24. The stock has a market cap of $50.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.16 and a 12 month high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.91. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.30%.

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.