Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stock Position in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 22.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,692,372 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,243,890 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.13% of Xcel Energy worth $539,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.0% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,262,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,788,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157,602 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 54.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,098,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,063 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,725,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,187,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,018 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,719,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,274,799,000 after buying an additional 1,746,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,366,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,653,000 after buying an additional 1,654,505 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 1.1%

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

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

Xcel Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Xcel Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Xcel Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price objective on Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.60.

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.