Zacks Investment Management Makes New $417,000 Investment in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 520.1% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,405 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 120.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,025 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 130.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,823 shares during the period. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at about $64,301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL opened at $69.15 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $73.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.41.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the topic of several research reports. Argus upgraded 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. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

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.