Franklin Resources Inc. Has $151.87 Million Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,452,968 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,853 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.44% of Xcel Energy worth $151,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in XEL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,062,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,665,677,000 after buying an additional 8,644,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Xcel Energy by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,521,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559,321 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 216.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,627,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,510 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 184.9% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,451,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,861,000 after purchasing an additional 942,097 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 247.8% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,284,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,511,000 after buying an additional 915,046 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on XEL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Xcel Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.83.

Xcel Energy Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $55.52 on Thursday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.79 and a 52 week high of $66.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.55. The firm has a market cap of $30.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 13.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.77%.

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.