Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a bullish view: Seventeen firms give Xcel Energy an average “Buy” rating, with an average 12-month price target of $92.41 versus the stock’s $76.34 price.
• Institutional ownership is substantial: Institutional investors own 78.38% of Xcel Energy, with major second-quarter purchases from BlackRock, California State Teachers’ Retirement System, GQG Partners, and others.
• Xcel Energy exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $0.93 EPS versus the $0.79 consensus estimate, while revenue fell 5.1% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5925, representing a 3.1% annualized yield.

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $92.4118.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. New Street Research set a $91.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $101.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho set a $92.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,890,136,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 8,419.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,315,466 shares of the company's stock worth $4,682,732,000 after buying an additional 57,630,988 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth $891,688,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the second quarter worth $708,086,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the second quarter valued at $503,543,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $76.34 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.88 and a 200-day moving average of $79.68. The company has a market capitalization of $47.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.70. Xcel Energy has a 52-week low of $71.29 and a 52-week high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 15.28%.Xcel Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy's payout ratio is currently 64.93%.

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.

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