Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target Cut to $89.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price objective trimmed by UBS Group from $93.00 to $89.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

XEL has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Mizuho set a $86.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.44.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $77.96 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Xcel Energy has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The firm has a market cap of $48.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.10.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of XEL. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $471,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 13.2% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.