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

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.83.

XEL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $54.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $53.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.85. Xcel Energy has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $69.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 26,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 812 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 70,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,359,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.