Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $65.88 and last traded at $65.84, with a volume of 491268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on XEL shares. Argus upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.54.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $63.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Integris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the second quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 6,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 22,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.