Ballast Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Ballast Advisors LLC reduced its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 17.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 838 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. American National Bank bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.38.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XEL traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $65.95. The stock had a trading volume of 265,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,191,487. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $68.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Company 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.