Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. TheStreet downgraded Xcel Energy from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $62.58.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.9 %

Xcel Energy stock opened at $53.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.07. Xcel Energy has a 12 month low of $46.79 and a 12 month high of $70.72. The company has a market capitalization of $29.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.36.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 13.36%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.548 dividend. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,665,677,000 after buying an additional 8,644,054 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,994,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,847,000 after buying an additional 1,472,435 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,766,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,796,000 after buying an additional 261,426 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,739,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,396,000 after buying an additional 90,819 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 11.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,303,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,440,000 after buying an additional 550,508 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

About Xcel Energy

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.