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

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.5333.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Xcel Energy from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $86.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Xcel Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after acquiring an additional 14,029 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 22,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $76.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.46. Xcel Energy has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $83.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.95.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.08). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 13.46%.The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 29th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 29th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.51%.

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.