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

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.5475 per share on Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th.

Xcel Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Xcel Energy has a payout ratio of 57.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $66.69 on Friday. Xcel Energy has a twelve month low of $46.79 and a twelve month high of $73.38. The firm has a market cap of $38.30 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.69. 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 (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on XEL shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.