OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Cuts Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lessened its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,698 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gotham Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter worth $322,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 23,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 3,029 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 167,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,582,000 after acquiring an additional 23,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 92,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on XEL. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Xcel Energy stock traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $54.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 727,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,610,737. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $65.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.5475 dividend. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.77%.

Xcel Energy Company 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.