Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Xcel Energy has a consensus analyst rating of "Buy" from 17 covering firms, with 14 buy ratings and 2 strong buys. The average 12-month price target is $92.
• Recent broker updates were mixed but generally supportive: Barclays raised its target to $90, while Truist, JPMorgan, and BMO adjusted price targets to the $91-$94 range and maintained positive ratings.
• The stock was trading around $79.25, near its 50-day and 200-day averages, and Xcel recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.91 in line with estimates. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5925 per share, yielding about 3.0%.

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $92.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XEL. Barclays raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Xcel Energy from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. USA Financial Formulas lifted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 491.3% during the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 21,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 17,810 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 226.4% in the fourth quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 42,354 shares of the company's stock worth $3,128,000 after purchasing an additional 29,376 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,324,667 shares of the company's stock worth $171,700,000 after purchasing an additional 356,208 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 74,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,477,000 after purchasing an additional 15,590 shares during the period. Finally, Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $1,165,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.1%

XEL opened at $79.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy has a one year low of $68.32 and a one year high of $84.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.30%.

About Xcel Energy

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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