Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.55

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.5475 per share on Saturday, July 20th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%.

Xcel Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 6.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Xcel Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 57.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Xcel Energy to earn $3.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.19 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.2%.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 2.2 %

Xcel Energy stock traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $55.52. 4,230,495 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,129,047. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $53.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The company has a market cap of $30.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.36. Xcel Energy has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $66.40.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.83.

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.