Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 59,287 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 37.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 98,694 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,287 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $7,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. USA Financial Formulas increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 491.3% during the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 21,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 17,810 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 226.4% during the 4th quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 42,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,128,000 after purchasing an additional 29,376 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,324,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,700,000 after purchasing an additional 356,208 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 74,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,477,000 after purchasing an additional 15,590 shares during the period. Finally, Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $1,165,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $78.77 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.16 and a fifty-two week high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $49.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.05.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.91. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 68.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on XEL. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.76.

About Xcel Energy

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.