Dj Xcel Energy Price Target Cut To $72.00/Share From $74.00 By Morgan Stanley

Xcel Energy Inc.’s XEL strategic investments in infrastructure projects and focus on clean power generation should further boost its performance. The company’s consistent customer base growth acts as a tailwind.

However, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company faces risks related to the failure of transmission and distribution lines.

Factors That Act as Tailwinds for XEL

Xcel Energy continues to invest substantially in its utility assets to provide reliable services and effectively meet the rising electricity demand. It aims to spend $45 billion during the 2025-2029 period. These investments are aimed at strengthening and expanding its transmission, distribution, electric generation and renewable projects.

Xcel Energy is focusing on clean-energy transition. After completing six wind projects with 1.5 GW capacities in 2020, the company completed four wind farms, adding another 800 megawatts (MW) of clean energy generation. It received regulatory approval for the Minnesota resource plan, which includes the closing of coal plants like the A.S. King Plant by 2028 and Sherco 3 by 2030.

The high-quality and reliable services provided by the company attract new customers and allow Xcel Energy to serve an expanding electric and natural gas customer base. The residential electric and natural gas bills of customers in Xcel Energy's operating regions are lower than the national average, which attracts new customers for its services. In the third quarter of 2024, the electric customer base increased 1.3% and the natural gas customer base improved 1.1%. Year to date, sales volumes increased 0.2% for retail electricity and 0.1% for natural gas.

XEL’s Headwinds

Xcel Energy’s natural gas and electric transmission and distribution operations are exposed to several risks, including explosions, leaks and mechanical setbacks. These incidents can adversely impact the company’s operations, thereby affecting its financial performance.

XEL’s operations are subject to commodity price fluctuations. Despite the existing fuel recovery mechanisms in most of its service territories, higher fuel costs could adversely impact the results of operations if expenses are not recovered.

XEL Stock Price Performance

In the past three months, shares of the company have risen 16.8% compared with the industry’s 1.1% growth.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the same industry are NiSource Inc. NI, Ameren Corporation AEE and DTE Energy DTE, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

NiSource’s long-term (three-to-five years) earnings growth rate is 6.95%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NI’s 2024 earnings per share (EPS) implies an improvement of 8.1% from the bottom line recorded in 2023.

AEE’s long-term earnings growth rate is 6.59%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEE’s 2024 EPS implies an improvement of 5.3% from the bottom line recorded in 2023.

DTE Energy’s long-term earnings growth rate is 8.04%. The company delivered an average earnings surprise of 8.9% in the trailing four quarters.

Zacks Investment Research