Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Grows Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 301.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,028 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,782 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 770.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,955,000 after purchasing an additional 6,684,499 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,264,000 after purchasing an additional 74,690 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 120.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,379,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,095,000 after buying an additional 1,299,025 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 130.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,084,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,325,000 after buying an additional 1,179,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,854,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,046,000 after buying an additional 174,653 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on XEL. UBS Group upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. 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 report on Monday, August 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.38.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $68.65 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $69.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.94. The company has a market capitalization of $39.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

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.