Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Given New $89.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price target decreased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $89.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 15.79% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $92.41.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ XEL traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.86. The stock had a trading volume of 3,093,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,137,764. The company has a market cap of $48.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $71.29 and a 52 week high of $84.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.41 and its 200-day moving average is $79.72.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,610,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,732,334,000 after purchasing an additional 885,085 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the second quarter worth about $4,890,136,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,340,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,704,534,000 after acquiring an additional 444,092 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,403,680,000 after acquiring an additional 491,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,572,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,920,000 after acquiring an additional 3,546,423 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Xcel Energy

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.