Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target to $75.00

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.76% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on XEL. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.91.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $67.11 on Friday. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $73.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $38.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.43.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.06). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. On average, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 185.2% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 34,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 22,701 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 113,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,416,000 after buying an additional 7,686 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 95.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 72,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,720,000 after acquiring an additional 35,363 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.