Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target Raised to $59.00

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price target hoisted by Evercore ISI from $54.00 to $59.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on XEL. Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 11th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays raised Xcel Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and cut their target price for the company from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $62.58.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of XEL opened at $54.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $70.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.548 per share. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 298,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,448,000 after buying an additional 7,679 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 115,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,121,000 after buying an additional 37,131 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 930.5% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 45,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,627,000 after buying an additional 41,462 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 66.8% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 70,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,359,000 after buying an additional 28,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,665,677,000 after purchasing an additional 8,644,054 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.