Brokerages Set Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) PT at $65.54

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.38.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on XEL shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xcel Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 770.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,955,000 after purchasing an additional 6,684,499 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,264,000 after acquiring an additional 74,690 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 120.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,025 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 130.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,823 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,854,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,046,000 after acquiring an additional 174,653 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $66.69 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.29. Xcel Energy has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $68.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.06). The firm 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 10.99% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Research analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.