Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives $92.76 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.4118.

XEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. New Street Research set a $91.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

XEL stock opened at $79.17 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.32 and a 200-day moving average of $79.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Xcel Energy has a 12 month low of $69.16 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.39.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.14. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 30.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 48,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

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.