Evercore ISI Boosts Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target to $59.00

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $54.00 to $59.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.20% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $61.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.58.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.03. The company had a trading volume of 2,693,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,367,452. The business’s 50-day moving average is $53.88 and its 200 day moving average is $58.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $70.72. The company has a market cap of $30.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.36.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 293.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.