Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.6250.

Several research firms recently issued reports on XEL. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xcel Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Xcel Energy by 4.8% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its position in Xcel Energy by 16.0% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $77.41 on Friday. Xcel Energy has a one year low of $66.32 and a one year high of $84.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.91. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.30%.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

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.