Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 22.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,692,372 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,243,890 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $539,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 277,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,410,000 after buying an additional 77,202 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,496,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,020,000 after buying an additional 52,670 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 127.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,449,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,940,000 after acquiring an additional 811,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 6.4% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,014,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,033,000 after acquiring an additional 361,980 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on Xcel Energy in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.60.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Xcel Energy stock opened at $81.00 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $84.23. The stock has a market cap of $50.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.61.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 13.76%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

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.