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

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) declared 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 3.30%.

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 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 Stock Performance

Shares of Xcel Energy stock traded down $1.68 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.40. 5,624,152 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,109,625. Xcel Energy has a 1 year low of $46.79 and a 1 year high of $73.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. The business's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.62.

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.