Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives $90.63 Average Target Price from Analysts

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.6250.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of XEL stock opened at $77.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $48.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $84.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.91. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 68.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.0% during the third quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 12,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.