Analysts Set Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Target Price at $66.31

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.31.

A number of research firms have recently commented on XEL. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of XEL opened at $71.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $71.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $65.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released 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 company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. Xcel Energy’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Pitcairn Co. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the first quarter valued at about $224,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $145,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 520,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,973,000 after purchasing an additional 50,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA raised its position in Xcel Energy by 18.2% in the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 24,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,806 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

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.