Morgan Stanley Boosts Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target to $59.00

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $59.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 1.55% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $76.00 to $67.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.08.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:XEL traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $59.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 971,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,524,773. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.74 and a 200-day moving average of $61.11. Xcel Energy has a 52-week low of $53.73 and a 52-week high of $72.99.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 11.75%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 167,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,582,000 after buying an additional 23,063 shares during the period. Panoramic Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 91.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 376,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,524,000 after acquiring an additional 179,359 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 17,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Xcel Energy by 7.0% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 287,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,447,000 after purchasing an additional 18,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.83% of the company’s stock.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, purchases, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, oil, wood/refuse, and wind energy sources.