First Business Financial Services Inc. Invests $214,000 in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

First Business Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. American National Bank acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Xcel Energy stock opened at $68.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $69.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $64.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.00. The company has a market capitalization of $39.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Argus raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.38.

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.