Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 5,082 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,857 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,082 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $10,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. American National Bank bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. Barclays raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.54.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ XEL opened at $64.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $65.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. 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.