Copley Financial Group Inc. Takes $532,000 Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 17.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 5,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,124,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 82,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,910,000 after acquiring an additional 18,489 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 12.6% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 12.0% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight 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 target price of $68.62.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.93. 88,412 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,083,970. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $73.38. 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 $39.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.24.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy 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.