Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Plans $0.59 Quarterly Dividend

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.5925 per share on Monday, July 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th.

Xcel Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. Xcel Energy has a payout ratio of 57.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Xcel Energy to earn $4.49 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.37 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.8%.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XEL opened at $79.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $49.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.93 and its 200-day moving average is $78.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $84.23.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Xcel Energy’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $90.94.

Xcel Energy Company Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.