Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Price Target Lowered to $62.00 at Morgan Stanley

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $62.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on XEL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $59.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Xcel Energy from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Xcel Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $53.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Xcel Energy has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $65.62.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Xcel Energy will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.5475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,665,677,000 after buying an additional 8,644,054 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,994,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,435 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,766,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,796,000 after acquiring an additional 261,426 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 770.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,552,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,955,000 after purchasing an additional 6,684,499 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,186,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,264,000 after purchasing an additional 74,690 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.