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

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.08.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on XEL shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. TheStreet lowered Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays raised Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.2 %

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

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

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

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.