First Trust Advisors LP Sells 185,204 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,956,586 shares of the company's stock after selling 185,204 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.34% of Xcel Energy worth $132,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of XEL. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 107.1% during the 4th quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 656,797 shares of the company's stock worth $44,347,000 after buying an additional 339,680 shares in the last quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 138,295 shares of the company's stock worth $9,338,000 after acquiring an additional 7,723 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $519,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,562.0% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 58,055 shares of the company's stock worth $3,920,000 after purchasing an additional 54,562 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XEL traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $70.29. 6,499,583 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,615,063. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $69.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.93. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.97 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The company had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is 66.28%.

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.