Bank of America Raises Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target to $66.00

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its target price upped by Bank of America from $63.00 to $66.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Xcel Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL opened at $53.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $29.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $70.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XEL. Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Toews Corp ADV acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $772,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Xcel Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 114,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,541,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $641,000. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

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.