Morgan Stanley Lowers Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target to $83.00

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its target price cut by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $83.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.40% from the stock’s previous close.

XEL has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. New Street Research set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.06.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL traded down $1.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $72.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,588,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,194,797. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $45.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy has a 1-year low of $71.79 and a 1-year high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,890,136,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $891,688,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $708,086,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $503,543,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $433,927,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc is a Minneapolis-based electric and natural gas utility holding company that serves customers across parts of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Through its operating companies, Xcel provides electricity generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas distribution and related energy services.

The company operates a diversified generating fleet that includes wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas and other resources.