Morgan Stanley reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL – Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $64.00 price objective on the stock.
XEL has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Xcel Energy from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 21st. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Xcel Energy from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Xcel Energy from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $69.18.
Xcel Energy Stock Up 1.0 %
XEL opened at $65.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.48. Xcel Energy has a twelve month low of $56.89 and a twelve month high of $77.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.
Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.78%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.
Xcel Energy Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 64.40%.
Insider Transactions at Xcel Energy
In other news, EVP Timothy John O’connor sold 15,625 shares of Xcel Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.59, for a total value of $1,087,343.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,195.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XEL. Sandy Spring Bank raised its position in Xcel Energy by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 4,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 3,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.8% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 19,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,418,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Shaker Investments LLC OH increased its position in Xcel Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 10,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. 77.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, purchases, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, oil, wood/refuse, and wind energy sources.
Featured Stories
Receive News & Ratings for Xcel Energy Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Xcel Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.