Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Purchases 892,740 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,190,756 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 892,740 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 2.65% of Xcel Energy worth $991,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XEL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.38.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock traded up $1.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $71.30. 1,671,837 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,187,609. 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 company has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.38. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.79 and a 1-year high of $71.43. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $65.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.55.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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.