Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.17.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after buying an additional 892,740 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,562,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,091,000 after acquiring an additional 262,191 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,417,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,170,000 after purchasing an additional 67,820 shares during the period. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL opened at $68.08 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.64. Xcel Energy has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $73.38. The firm has a market cap of $39.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.41. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current 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.