Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $83.12 and last traded at $82.9010, with a volume of 152124 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $81.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho set a $86.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.60.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.4%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $76.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.87. The company has a market cap of $49.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.83% and a net margin of 13.76%.The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 29th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xcel Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,979,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,078,000 after purchasing an additional 3,881,011 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,572,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,920,000 after purchasing an additional 3,546,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.9% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 28,851,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,326,872,000 after buying an additional 2,589,406 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,187,929,000 after buying an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4,530.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,024,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,538,000 after buying an additional 1,980,821 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

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.