Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $72.32 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy has a 1 year low of $51.97 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $41.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.83.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Devin W. Stockfish acquired 2,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $68.93 per share, with a total value of $149,578.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,272.51. This represents a 259.26% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XEL. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,762,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,401,901,000 after buying an additional 6,306,380 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 31.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,809,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,827,090,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109,190 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,608,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,581,436 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1,625.7% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,667,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,609,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454,700 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,878,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429,353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

About Xcel Energy

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.