Morgan Stanley Trims Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Target Price to $62.00

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $62.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Xcel Energy from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL stock opened at $53.85 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $29.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.47. Xcel Energy has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $65.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in Xcel Energy by 293.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.