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

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $90.6250.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 63.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,979,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,078,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881,011 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,572,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,814,920,000 after acquiring an additional 3,546,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 28,851,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,326,872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,406 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,871,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,780,000 after acquiring an additional 2,399,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,001,018 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $79.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $79.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.60. The stock has a market cap of $49.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.91. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio 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.