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

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $88.4375.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Argus set a $86.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, February 6th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL opened at $80.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.78. Xcel Energy has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 13.76%.The company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xcel Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,610,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,732,334,000 after buying an additional 885,085 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,340,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,704,534,000 after buying an additional 444,092 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 28,851,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,326,872,000 after buying an additional 2,589,406 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,572,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,920,000 after buying an additional 3,546,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,526,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,842,000 after buying an additional 807,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

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.