Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

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

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays raised Xcel Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Wolfe Research raised Xcel Energy from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $62.58.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $53.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.07. Xcel Energy has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $70.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.548 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,665,677,000 after purchasing an additional 8,644,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,994,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,435 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,766,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,796,000 after purchasing an additional 261,426 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,739,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,396,000 after purchasing an additional 90,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,303,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,440,000 after purchasing an additional 550,508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

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.