Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $64.00 to $69.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 0.48% from the company’s previous close.
Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on XEL. Barclays dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 18th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their target price on Xcel Energy to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 30th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.90.
Xcel Energy Price Performance
Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $68.67 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.61. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $61.15 and a 52 week high of $76.63. The company has a market capitalization of $37.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.
Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 11.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity
In related news, SVP Frank P. Prager sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $73,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,146,622.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Xcel Energy news, SVP Frank P. Prager sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $73,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,174 shares in the company, valued at $2,146,622.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kim Williams sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.21, for a total transaction of $152,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 99,993 shares in the company, valued at $7,620,466.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,271,240. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1,060.1% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 72,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,151,000 after purchasing an additional 66,523 shares in the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $6,221,000. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 10,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 29,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,104,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 76,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.
Xcel Energy Company Profile
Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, purchases, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, oil, wood/refuse, and wind energy sources.
Further Reading
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Source: defenseworld.net
