Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 22,327 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management decreased its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 80.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,573 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,327 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001,018 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,144,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,295,000 after purchasing an additional 126,790 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.0% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,262,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,788,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157,602 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,026,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,695,748,000 after purchasing an additional 831,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,526,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,842,000 after purchasing an additional 807,353 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.7%

XEL opened at $83.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.87. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $84.00.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. Xcel Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.040-4.160 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 29th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on XEL shares. UBS Group raised Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.60.

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.