Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 134,891 Shares of Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,827,263 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 134,891 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $504,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of XEL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Xcel Energy during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in Xcel Energy by 394.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Xcel Energy in the third quarter worth about $42,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ XEL opened at $77.62 on Tuesday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $84.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 14.14%.The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Xcel Energy’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Xcel Energy from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 target price on Xcel Energy in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

About Xcel Energy

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.