Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) PT Raised to $73.00 at Morgan Stanley

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its target price increased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $73.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 14.10% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on XEL. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.14.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $63.98 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $64.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.49 and a 200-day moving average of $56.20. The company has a market cap of $35.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 116,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,193,000 after buying an additional 1,869 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 21,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 9,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 214,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,298,000 after acquiring an additional 11,348 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

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.