Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Plans $0.57 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Xcel Energy Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.28 with a yield of 3.15%.
• The company has a payout ratio of 55.2%, indicating earnings sufficiently cover the dividend, with expected future earnings allowing for continued coverage.
• Recent analyst updates show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Xcel Energy, with an average target price of $75.80.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 30th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.57 per share on Monday, October 20th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th.

Xcel Energy has a payout ratio of 55.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Xcel Energy to earn $4.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.1%.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ XEL traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $73.56. 2,621,966 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,631,606. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Xcel Energy has a 12-month low of $57.24 and a 12-month high of $74.13. The firm has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.36.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Xcel Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

About Xcel Energy

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.