Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 22.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,863 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,863 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $5,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 120.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,095,000 after buying an additional 1,299,025 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 130.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,823 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after purchasing an additional 892,740 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 725.1% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 907,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,444,000 after purchasing an additional 797,096 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 89.4% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,534,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,478,000 after purchasing an additional 724,558 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on XEL. Argus upgraded 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 report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

XEL stock opened at $69.15 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.41. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $73.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The business’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 Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy 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.