Swiss National Bank Purchases 4,500 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 0.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,649,100 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $107,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 23.1% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 33,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 6,263 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,124,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 124,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,160,000 after acquiring an additional 5,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 18,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on XEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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 boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.38.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $69.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $70.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.37.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 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.