Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives $90.63 Consensus PT from Analysts

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.0588.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. New Street Research set a $91.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xcel Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. USA Financial Formulas raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 491.3% in the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 21,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 17,810 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 135.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,017,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,205 shares in the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,125,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,425,000 after purchasing an additional 122,487 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,357,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,116,000 after purchasing an additional 150,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 175.0% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 29,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 18,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL opened at $81.75 on Friday. Xcel Energy has a 12-month low of $66.56 and a 12-month high of $84.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.40.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Xcel Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.30%.

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.