Intech Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 24.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 230,151 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72,805 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $15,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 770.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,955,000 after buying an additional 6,684,499 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 120.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,025 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 130.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,823 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Xcel Energy by 10.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,854,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,046,000 after purchasing an additional 174,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 25.5% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,685,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,062,000 after purchasing an additional 342,592 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.38.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

XEL opened at $71.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $65.27 and its 200-day moving average is $59.63. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $71.43. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $40.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The firm 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.