Freedom Investment Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 20.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,707 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 105,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,655,000 after buying an additional 8,790 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 165.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 107,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,770,000 after acquiring an additional 66,840 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 21.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 61,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 10,851 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 60.3% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 22,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 8,656 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Xcel Energy by 83.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,103,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,954,000 after purchasing an additional 502,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.62.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $72.56 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $73.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.23 and its 200-day moving average is $60.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.38.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

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.