Evercore ISI Boosts Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target to $77.00

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $74.00 to $77.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.96% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on XEL. Barclays increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $70.67 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.39. 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 has a 12 month low of $51.97 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $69.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.17.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.11). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 14.40%. The business had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xcel Energy

In related news, Director Devin W. Stockfish bought 2,170 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.93 per share, for a total transaction of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,401,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,306,380 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 118.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,608,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,175,000 after buying an additional 3,581,436 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 1,625.7% during the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,667,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,609,000 after buying an additional 3,454,700 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 236.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,878,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,429,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 379.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,022,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,182,939 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.