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

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.50.

Several brokerages have issued reports on XEL. StockNews.com began coverage on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Xcel Energy from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of XEL stock opened at $65.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $36.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $69.55 and a 200-day moving average of $68.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Xcel Energy has a 1-year low of $56.89 and a 1-year high of $77.66.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 64.40%.

Insider Activity at Xcel Energy

In other Xcel Energy news, SVP Frank P. Prager sold 737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $47,905.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,100. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Frank P. Prager sold 737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $47,905.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,100. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy John O’connor sold 15,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.59, for a total value of $1,087,343.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,195.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XEL. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its position in Xcel Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 20,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Xcel Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,149,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Xcel Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 115,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,394,000 after purchasing an additional 2,192 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,000. Institutional investors own 77.15% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

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Xcel Energy, Inc operates as a holding company engaged in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through the following three segments: Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility and All Others. The Regulated Electric Utility segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity primarily in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico.