Barclays Increases Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target to $90.00

Key Points

• Barclays raised its price target on Xcel Energy from $87 to $90 and kept an overweight rating, implying about 13.9% upside from the previous close.
• Other analysts remain generally bullish, with recent targets ranging from $86 to $98 and a consensus price target of $92; the stock’s overall rating is currently Buy.
• Xcel Energy’s latest quarterly results matched EPS expectations at $0.91 per share, while revenue came in below estimates at $4.02 billion, though revenue still rose 2.9% year over year.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Barclays from $87.00 to $90.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Barclays's price target points to a potential upside of 13.93% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. New Street Research set a $91.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Argus set a $86.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $79.00 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $67.02 and a 52 week high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. Xcel Energy's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XEL. USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 491.3% during the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 21,435 shares of the company's stock worth $1,583,000 after buying an additional 17,810 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,357,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,116,000 after buying an additional 150,768 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 226.4% during the 4th quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 42,354 shares of the company's stock worth $3,128,000 after acquiring an additional 29,376 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 175.0% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 29,147 shares of the company's stock worth $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 18,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 277,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,410,000 after acquiring an additional 77,202 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

Xcel Energy NASDAQ: XEL is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company's core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.

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