Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives $65.00 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.45.

XEL has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $76.00 to $67.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $66.00 in a report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 9th.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Xcel Energy by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 134,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,350,000 after purchasing an additional 4,891 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,161,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Xcel Energy by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 47,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 6,953 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 51.4% during the 1st quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,392,000. 77.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $60.06 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.74 and a 200 day moving average of $61.11. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $53.73 and a 52 week high of $72.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.43.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 14th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.82%.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, purchases, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, oil, wood/refuse, and wind energy sources.