17,217 Shares in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Acquired by Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 17,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,124,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 57.3% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 6,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 26.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 83.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,103,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,954,000 after buying an additional 502,231 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 17,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on XEL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.62.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

Xcel Energy stock opened at $68.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $39.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.41. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $73.38. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.40.

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. Equities analysts predict 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.