Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 120,685 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,761 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 120,685 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $17,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 9.1% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 105,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,655,000 after buying an additional 8,790 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 165.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 107,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,770,000 after acquiring an additional 66,840 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 61,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 10,851 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 60.3% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 22,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 8,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Xcel Energy by 83.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,103,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,954,000 after purchasing an additional 502,231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $71.60 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $71.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $41.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.57 and a 200-day moving average of $59.93.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on XEL. UBS Group raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities 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, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.31.

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.