Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,475,912 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,670 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.43% of Xcel Energy worth $167,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 4,645 shares of the company's stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 6,382 shares of the company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,941 shares of the company's stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 976,144 shares of the company's stock worth $65,909,000 after acquiring an additional 11,299 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of XEL stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,379,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,399,202. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $67.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.63. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $73.38. 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 company has a market cap of $40.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.43.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th were issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on XEL. Barclays dropped their target price on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Xcel Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.91.

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.