Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target Raised to $66.00

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $66.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.57.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL opened at $64.07 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.61 and a 200 day moving average of $57.50. Xcel Energy has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $65.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $35.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XEL. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 643,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,614,000 after purchasing an additional 121,118 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,625,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,372,000 after purchasing an additional 38,653 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 100,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,427,000 after purchasing an additional 20,068 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 190,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,245,000 after purchasing an additional 91,100 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Xcel Energy by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 105,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 8,790 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.