StockNews.com Downgrades Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) to Sell

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays raised shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $55.01 on Friday. Xcel Energy has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $70.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.10. The company has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 12.47%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of XEL. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 293.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

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.