First Heartland Consultants Inc. Buys New Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

First Heartland Consultants Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.1% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 105,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 8,790 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 165.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 107,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,770,000 after purchasing an additional 66,840 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 622,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,485,000 after purchasing an additional 25,119 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 61,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 10,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 60.3% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 22,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 8,656 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.38.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of XEL opened at $68.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $69.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.94.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its 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). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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.