Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $72.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $70.00.

XEL has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $64.94 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Xcel Energy has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XEL. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased its position in Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,840,000 after buying an additional 2,104,405 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at $64,301,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after acquiring an additional 892,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,797,000 after purchasing an additional 777,696 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.