Aviance Capital Partners LLC Invests $321,000 in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 325.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 402.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 25,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 20,094 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $224,000. InterOcean Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Finally, Natixis bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $8,348,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on XEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.38.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $69.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.47. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $70.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly 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). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy 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.