Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) To Go Ex-Dividend on June 15th

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of 0.5925 per share on Monday, July 20th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th.

Xcel Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. Xcel Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 57.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Xcel Energy to earn $4.49 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.37 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.8%.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ XEL opened at $79.22 on Friday. Xcel Energy has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $49.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.44.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on XEL shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Argus set a $86.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $90.63.

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.