Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,512,582 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,726 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.45% of Xcel Energy worth $164,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. American National Bank acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at $35,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company's stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.7 %

Xcel Energy stock traded up $1.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $67.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,629,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,202,269. The firm has a market cap of $38.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.55. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $68.36. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.