Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys New Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. American National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the second quarter worth $35,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $71.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.63. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $71.43.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on XEL shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.