Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) to “Overweight”

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $72.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $70.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 13.62% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on XEL. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.67.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $63.37 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42. Xcel Energy has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its 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 for 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%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xcel Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.1% during the third quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. now owns 15,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.9% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the second quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 6,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.