Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives $87.29 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.2857.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on XEL. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Argus raised Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in Xcel Energy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 12,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 1,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 19,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ XEL opened at $74.19 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.91. Xcel Energy has a one year low of $62.58 and a one year 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 company has a market capitalization of $43.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 29th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.51%.

About Xcel Energy

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.