Merewether Investment Management LP Acquires Shares of 984,700 Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 984,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,301,000. Xcel Energy makes up approximately 3.0% of Merewether Investment Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. increased its position in Xcel Energy by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. now owns 15,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew 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 worth $430,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management grew 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 worth $1,500,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XEL has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.62.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $71.00 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.51 and its 200-day moving average is $60.62. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results 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). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Company 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.