Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 8,934 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 5.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 159,783 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,934 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $10,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,614,000 after buying an additional 121,118 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 91.6% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 190,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,245,000 after buying an additional 91,100 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 105,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 8,790 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 165.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 107,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,770,000 after acquiring an additional 66,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Xcel Energy by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 622,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,485,000 after acquiring an additional 25,119 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $66.49 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $63.92 and its 200-day moving average is $58.55. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $68.36. The company has a market capitalization of $38.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XEL. Barclays lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.38.

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.