Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.52

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 24th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.52 per share on Thursday, July 20th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%.

Xcel Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 20 years. Xcel Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 57.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Xcel Energy to earn $3.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.8%.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Shares of XEL stock traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $65.13. The company had a trading volume of 3,560,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,763,623. Xcel Energy has a 12 month low of $56.89 and a 12 month high of $77.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.51 and its 200 day moving average is $68.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.43.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Xcel Energy will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Xcel Energy from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy John O’connor sold 15,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.59, for a total value of $1,087,343.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,195.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Frank P. Prager sold 737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $47,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,907,100. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy John O’connor sold 15,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.59, for a total value of $1,087,343.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,195.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Xcel Energy by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,043,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,611,630,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263,127 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,251,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,364,000 after buying an additional 162,592 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $576,873,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,966,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,596,000 after buying an additional 70,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,972,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,620,000 after buying an additional 999,186 shares during the last quarter. 77.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Xcel Energy

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Xcel Energy, Inc operates as a holding company engaged in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through the following three segments: Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility and All Others. The Regulated Electric Utility segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity primarily in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico.