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

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $62.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

XEL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Xcel Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $53.85 on Monday. Xcel Energy has a 12-month low of $46.79 and a 12-month high of $65.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.47.

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

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 65.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 7.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 3.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 770.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,955,000 after purchasing an additional 6,684,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,264,000 after purchasing an additional 74,690 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.