Bank of Nova Scotia Boosts Stake in Xcel Energy Inc. $XEL

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 16.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 159,351 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,722 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $12,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Xcel Energy by 365.3% during the first quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 349 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Energy during the first quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on XEL. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, New Street Research set a $91.00 target price on shares of Xcel Energy in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $92.65.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL opened at $81.67 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.39. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.16 and a 52-week high of $84.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.29.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Xcel Energy’s payout ratio is 68.30%.

Key Xcel Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Xcel Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp reiterated an Overweight rating on Xcel Energy and raised its longer-term earnings estimates, including FY2027, FY2028, FY2029, and FY2030, signaling confidence in the utility’s multi-year growth profile.
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp also lifted its FY2029 EPS forecast to $5.34 from $5.13 and FY2028 EPS to $4.89 from $4.77, which supports the view that earnings can improve steadily over time.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary also pointed to Xcel as potentially undervalued relative to its earnings and dividend profile, with additional investor focus on clean energy spending and AI-driven power demand as possible longer-term tailwinds.
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp’s near-term FY2026 EPS estimate was slightly reduced to $4.12 from $4.13, a small change that does not materially alter the broader thesis.
• Neutral Sentiment: Other recent coverage included Morgan Stanley reiterating a Hold rating and Zacks noting the company is due to report earnings next week, keeping attention centered on the upcoming results rather than any major new fundamental shock.

Xcel Energy Company 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.