Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $1.80 Million Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 12.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,521 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,824 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. American National Bank bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on XEL shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.31.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $71.35 on Monday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $71.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. Xcel Energy’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.