Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $88.4375.

XEL has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Argus set a $86.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Mizuho set a $86.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 73,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,456,000 after acquiring an additional 11,351 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 9,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 136,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,093,000 after purchasing an additional 10,909 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,290,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,355,000 after purchasing an additional 17,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayban acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,346,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $79.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.92. Xcel Energy has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.30%.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

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.