ING Groep NV Has $15.12 Million Stock Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) by 85.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 231,482 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 106,326 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $15,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,054 shares of the company's stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 10.9% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 17,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the first quarter worth about $80,283,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in Xcel Energy by 1.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company's stock worth $223,264,000 after buying an additional 74,690 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 55.7% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on XEL. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Argus raised Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.38.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Xcel Energy stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.46. The stock had a trading volume of 4,018,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,218,233. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $69.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $39.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $64.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.07.

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). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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.