Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 13.46%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Xcel Energy updated its FY 2024 guidance to 3.500-3.600 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $3.50-$3.60 EPS.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

XEL stock traded up $0.64 on Friday, reaching $59.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,640,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,964,078. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.11. 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 company has a market capitalization of $33.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.37. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $64.25.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.548 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on XEL shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xcel Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.91.

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.