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

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.45.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $76.00 to $67.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 30th.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $60.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $33.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.11. Xcel Energy has a one year low of $53.73 and a one year high of $72.99.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Research analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xcel Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 134,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,350,000 after buying an additional 4,891 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the first quarter valued at about $1,161,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 17.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 47,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after buying an additional 6,953 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 51.4% during the first quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after buying an additional 5,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the first quarter valued at about $3,392,000. 77.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, purchases, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, oil, wood/refuse, and wind energy sources.