Quent Capital LLC Sells 640 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Quent Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 40.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 962 shares of the company’s stock after selling 640 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $51,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 298,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,448,000 after buying an additional 7,679 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $896,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 325,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,131,000 after acquiring an additional 11,709 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 23.2% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,614,000 after purchasing an additional 121,118 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 419,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,947,000 after purchasing an additional 29,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.81. The company had a trading volume of 256,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,445,118. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.06. The company has a market capitalization of $32.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.37. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $64.25.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 11.00%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on XEL. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.91.

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.