Barclays PLC Sells 461,255 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Barclays PLC lowered its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 26.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,262,786 shares of the company's stock after selling 461,255 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.22% of Xcel Energy worth $82,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 61,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 10,851 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Xcel Energy by 83.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,103,809 shares of the company's stock worth $58,954,000 after purchasing an additional 502,231 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 85.0% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 231,482 shares of the company's stock worth $15,116,000 after purchasing an additional 106,326 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 112.7% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 31,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,697,000 after buying an additional 16,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 27,634 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,805,000 after buying an additional 10,821 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on XEL. Argus upgraded 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on 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 Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Xcel Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.62.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.13 on Thursday, reaching $68.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,574,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,100,686. The company's fifty day moving average is $67.10 and its 200-day moving average is $61.19. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $73.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.