Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) to “Overweight”

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) was upgraded by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $72.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $70.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.62% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on XEL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective 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 reduced their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $63.37 on Monday. Xcel Energy has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $73.38. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.23. The stock has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The firm 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. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xcel Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 3,461.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 21,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,160,000 after buying an additional 21,147 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.6% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 93,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,994,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Wealthspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 8.3% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.