Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Upgraded by TD Cowen to Strong-Buy Rating

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) was upgraded by stock analysts at TD Cowen to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on XEL. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.92.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $81.10 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.61. The company has a market capitalization of $47.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.37. Xcel Energy has a 1 year low of $62.58 and a 1 year high of $83.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 10.52%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Xcel Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 1,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 19,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 8,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

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.