American Century Companies Inc. Sells 614,936 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,161,673 shares of the company’s stock after selling 614,936 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.55% of Xcel Energy worth $213,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 54,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,675,000 after buying an additional 18,274 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $2,298,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $120,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in Xcel Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 1,088,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,525,000 after purchasing an additional 30,633 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on XEL. Barclays cut their price objective on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. The trade was a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $69.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.05. The stock has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. Research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 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.