Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) To Go Ex-Dividend on January 6th

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th.

Xcel Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Xcel Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 57.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Price Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $66.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.41. Xcel Energy has a one year low of $46.79 and a one year high of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.69.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XEL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five investment 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.17.

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.