Federated Hermes Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,479,091 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122,024 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $167,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of XEL. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 566.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Insider Transactions at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of XEL stock opened at $67.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $68.96 and a 200 day moving average of $67.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.97 and a 1-year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.28%.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

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.