Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target Raised to $66.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $66.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on XEL. KeyCorp raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus raised Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.57.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $64.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $35.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.39. Xcel Energy has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $65.64.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.548 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 4.3% in the second quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 6,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Epiq Partners LLC increased its position in Xcel Energy by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 29,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 4.3% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.