Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Stock: Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Position

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management increased its Xcel Energy stake 1.9% in the third quarter, adding 171,514 shares to hold about 9.21 million shares, valued at roughly $649 million.
• Analysts have a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $90.71; 15 rate the stock Buy, one Strong Buy, and one Hold.
• Xcel Energy reported quarterly EPS of $1.52, beating the $1.39 estimate, while revenue of $4.17 billion fell short of expectations; revenue rose 6.6% year over year.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,210,086 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 171,514 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 1.47% of Xcel Energy worth $649,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of XEL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth $280,187,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,894,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $94,211,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 10,366.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 316,702 shares of the company's stock worth $25,431,000 after acquiring an additional 313,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 29,933,748 shares of the company's stock worth $2,403,680,000 after purchasing an additional 491,937 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Scotiabank started coverage on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $86.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $92.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.71.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $79.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.34. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.72 and a 1 year high of $84.23. The stock's 50-day moving average is $74.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.26 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 17.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

Xcel Energy Inc is a regulated electric and natural gas utility headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Through its operating companies, it generates, purchases, transmits and distributes electricity, and delivers natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The company serves customers in eight states: Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Its electric system includes a mix of generation resources, supported by transmission and distribution networks.

Xcel Energy traces its roots to Northern States Power Company, founded in 1909.

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