Xcel Energy, Inc.

• How to Make a Stable and Profitable Green Portfolio

  By Joshua Bondy - May 9, 2013 | Tickers: FSLR, SPWR, WEC, XEL

  Green investing isn't easy. Solar manufactures help the environment, but they also subject their investors to sharp swings in profitability. Investors looking for stable investments can find it very difficult to directly invest in such volatile businesses. With the growth in utility scale wind and solar, a select number of utilities offer a backdoor into green energy. Investing in a combination of utilities and solar manufactures is a stable more »

• Buy These Companies As Clean Energy Spending Slows

  By Reuben Brewer - May 2, 2013 | Tickers: AT, SCTY, XEL

  Spending on clean energy fell 22% percent in the first quarter, according to Bloomberg. That's the lowest level in four years. Here are a couple of companies to look at that already have clean energy assets built, and a company to be wary of.

  Government Support

  Clean energy has been helped along by government subsidies. Although most would agree that the idea of renewable and environmentally friendly power sources more »

• Safe Dividend Paying Utility Stocks Part 2

  By Reuben Brewer - April 22, 2013 | Tickers: DUK, SO, XEL

  Each month Citi creates a list of safe dividend paying companies. Barron's recently published the list. It included a number of utilities that income investors would do well to consider, including Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), Southern Company (NYSE: SO), and Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL).

  The Citi list

  Each month, Citi publishes a list of “safe” dividend companies. The most recent incarnation contains six electric utilities. While its hardly surprising more »

• Green Utilities to Avoid and Others to Invest In

  By Joshua Bondy - November 5, 2012 | Tickers: CPN, ORA, WEC, XEL

  Going green is a great catchphrase, and evokes the image of running through a field of butterflies and dandelions. Sadly, a green economy cannot be effortlessly dreamed up, but instead needs to be created with real people and real investments. Some companies have been able to integrate green energy into their portfolio in a sustainable manner, while others have not been as successful. Smart investors are able to place their more »

• GE to Benefit From Boom in Gas Turbines

  By Tony Daltorio - October 1, 2012 | Tickers: ALSMY.PK, GE, SI, XEL

  It's always good when a company raises its revenue growth forecast. This is especially true when the company is one of the world's largest.

  General Electric (NYSE: GE) recently raised its 2012 industrial revenue growth forecast to 10%, the high end of the previous 5%-10% forecast. This news sent its stock price to levels not seen since the autumn of 2008. That increased revenue forecast stemmed largely more »

• Why Are Hedge Fund Managers Betting on This Energy Company?

  By Meena Krishnamsetty - September 25, 2012 | Tickers: DUK, EXC, NEE, SO, XEL

  As the yearlong merger saga between Duke Energy  (NYSE: DUK) and Progress Energy was coming to a close during the second quarter, many of the hedge funds we track took notice of both companies. The action in Progress was impressive. As more confidence grew for the approval of the merger, funds entered the company in droves. Of the funds we follow, eleven took new positions in 2Q, with two of more »

• Do You Really Know What Natural Gas Offers the Investor

  By John Mylant - September 18, 2012 | Tickers: CNP, EPD, SM, XEL

  While we have heard how the low prices of natural gas has hindered many businesses because of revenue shortfalls, I believe investors will find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Not many people have seen it but many of the opportunities abound for investors in both growth and income investing. Let’s look at what natural gas has done right now for some utilities and what more »

• A Dividend Aristocrat, But Not for Long

  By Chad Henage - July 31, 2012 | Tickers: ATO, OKE, XEL

  A lot has been written about the decrease in natural gas prices, which naturally led to an increase in demand for this fuel. One company that would seem to benefit from this shift in demand is Atmos Energy (NYSE: ATO). The company was recently named as dividend aristocrat for having increased its dividend at least 25 years in a row. Because these companies are a rare breed, I always try to determine if they can maintain their status or if they could be the next dividend blowup.

• Buyers Beware: Defensive Stocks May Peak Soon

  By John Mylant - July 30, 2012 | Tickers: LNT, TEG, WEC, XEL

  All types of investors continue to flock to defense-minded dividend stocks even as the writing is on the wall that the nice ride may not last much longer. Here we have had a perfect storm: Defensive stocks growing in value yielding high dividends! Wow, I am in heaven. But signs of these companies becoming over-valued are cropping up. Stocks of large, dividend-paying companies have been a popular yield play at more »

• An Undervalued Utility? Do those Still Exist?

  By Chad Henage - April 11, 2012 | Tickers: TEG, NEE, SO, XEL

  A few years ago I ran the Motley Fool CAPS Screener looking for dividends of over 5%. A utility that came up on this screen was Integrys (NYSE: TEG). I checked into this company and found that there was a pretty decent utility, hiding behind the complicated operating structure at the time. Investors were worried at the time, that Integrys couldn't maintain its dividend. While Integrys did lose its status as a dividend aristocrat, the company did not cut its payout. Today the company is a lot less complicated and has gotten back to its roots as a regulated utility. Based at least on its dividend yield the company's shares could be considered undervalued.

• 15 Best Yielding Utility Stocks With A Buy Or Better Rating

  By DividendYields - January 9, 2012 | Tickers: AEP, CIG, EIX, EOC, ENI, EXC, FE, NGG, NEE, PCG, PPL, PEG, SRE, TRP, XEL

  The utility sector is of major importance for income investors. Utilities are characterized by stable and high dividends. Unfortunately, they are also highly leveraged and their core businesses are very capital intensive.

  In an effort to find some stocks from this sector to recommend, I screened large-cap stocks (more than $10 billion market caps) with a dividend yield of more than 3 percent, as well as a buy or more »