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

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be given a dividend of 0.5475 per share on Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%.

Xcel Energy has raised its dividend by an average of 6.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Xcel Energy has a payout ratio of 57.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Xcel Energy to earn $3.82 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 57.3%.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Xcel Energy stock opened at $66.40 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Xcel Energy has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $73.38. The company has a market capitalization of $38.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.41.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on XEL shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

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.