Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 481 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC decreased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,370 shares of the company’s stock after selling 481 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $228,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 189,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,404,000 after acquiring an additional 12,477 shares during the period. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 85.0% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 231,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,116,000 after purchasing an additional 106,326 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 64.4% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 27,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10,821 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 393.0% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,708,000 after purchasing an additional 252,793 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL opened at $67.68 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $38.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.75. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 64.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XEL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.67.

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.