Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Xcel Energy updated its FY24 guidance to $3.50-3.60 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 3.500-3.600 EPS.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

Xcel Energy stock traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,451,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,418,778. The stock has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.10. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $70.72.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.548 dividend. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on XEL. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. TheStreet cut shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays raised shares of Xcel Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $61.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.58.

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.