Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Argus

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) was upgraded by Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on XEL. UBS Group set a $85.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.14.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $77.18 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy has a 1 year low of $62.58 and a 1 year high of $83.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.52 and its 200 day moving average is $74.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.08). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 31.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,809,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,827,090,000 after buying an additional 6,109,190 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 28,851,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,326,872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,406 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $155,510,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 54.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,098,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,187,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

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.