Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Acquires 38,653 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,625,530 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,653 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.29% of Xcel Energy worth $87,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 293.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in 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 analysts have recently issued reports on XEL shares. TheStreet downgraded Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $52.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $54.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $65.62.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.