Independent Advisor Alliance Grows Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,988 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,052 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 120.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,095,000 after buying an additional 1,299,025 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 130.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,325,000 after buying an additional 1,179,823 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after buying an additional 892,740 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 725.1% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 907,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,444,000 after buying an additional 797,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 89.4% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,534,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,478,000 after buying an additional 724,558 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on XEL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.62.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of XEL opened at $72.92 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $73.38. The company has a market cap of $41.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.14.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

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.