Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.08.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 11th.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of XEL stock opened at $52.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. Xcel Energy has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.36.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.02). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The company had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, purchasing, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar energy sources, as well as coal, natural gas, oil, wood, and refuse-derived fuels.