01:50 PM EDT, 04/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We raise our 12-month target price $4 to $51, 14.3x our 2024 EPS estimate (down $0.01 to $3.57; we keep our 2025 estimate at $3.84), a discount to peers to reflect legal issues regarding XEL's liability in Colorado and Texas wildfires. XEL admits that its equipment played a role in igniting the Smokehouse Creek Fire and Reamer Fire (Texas) and there are currently 15 lawsuits filed against the company. For now, XEL's $500 million insurance covers the low-end of its liability estimate of $215 million, and XEL did not provide an upper estimate at this time. Regarding the Colorado Marshall Fire, we expect a trial in late 2025, and XEL has not provided a liability estimate. XEL reported Q1 EPS of $0.88 vs. $0.76, beating consensus by $0.10, with recent electric and gas rate adjustments and lower operations and maintenance costs outweighing the impact of higher interest expense. Weather-normalized retail electric sales fell 0.3% Y/Y, while gas sales rose 1.7% Y/Y.