Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.6250.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ XEL opened at $80.78 on Wednesday. Xcel Energy has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.61.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.30%.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XEL. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 12,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.