StockNews.com Lowers Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on XEL. TheStreet downgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $62.58.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $53.96 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.77 and its 200-day moving average is $58.07. Xcel Energy has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $70.72. The firm has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.12%. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 10.9% in the first quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after buying an additional 1,919 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 11.5% in the first quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.3% in the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.