Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $88.4375.

Several analysts recently commented on XEL shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Argus set a $86.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $6,994,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 41,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 19,214 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2,324.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,716,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,884,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 94.0% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,511,000 after purchasing an additional 15,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $80.39 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.77 and a 200-day moving average of $78.54. The firm has a market cap of $50.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.43. Xcel Energy has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

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. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.30%.

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.