Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,827,263 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 134,891 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.15% of Xcel Energy worth $504,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in Xcel Energy by 394.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in Xcel Energy by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $77.62 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $79.80 and its 200 day moving average is $78.47. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $84.23. The company has a market capitalization of $48.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The company’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $90.63.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.