Amalgamated Bank Decreases Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,735 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,883 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $8,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 111,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,874,000 after purchasing an additional 13,261 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 52.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 9,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,312 shares during the period. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 5,209 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on XEL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $54.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.24 and its 200 day moving average is $57.91. The company has a market capitalization of $30.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $69.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.548 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

About Xcel Energy

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.