Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 633 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,821 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 633 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $1,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 23.2% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,614,000 after purchasing an additional 121,118 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 91.6% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 190,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,245,000 after buying an additional 91,100 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Xcel Energy by 9.1% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 105,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 8,790 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 165.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 107,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,770,000 after acquiring an additional 66,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.2% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 622,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,485,000 after acquiring an additional 25,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.38.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.8 %

Xcel Energy stock opened at $67.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $68.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.69.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its 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). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

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.