Insight Guru Inc.
10/26/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/26/2026 08:57
Do Xcel’s Dividends Make Up For A Lagging Stock
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Xcel Energy (XEL) sells electricity and natural gas in 8 Western and Midwestern states and pays its shareholders a quarterly dividend. Over the past year, those payouts added 3.0 percentage points to an investor's return. The stock price has trailed the market for years, however. So once every dividend from the past five years is counted, how close to the market would you guess a holder came?
How Far Has Xcel Stock Trailed The Market?
Measured by price alone, Xcel stock rose 18.4% during the five years ending October 23, 2026. The S&P 500 climbed 70.4% over the same period. That leaves Xcel 52.1 percentage points behind the market. Anyone who looked solely at the share price saw the utility gain value, but at a fraction of the broader market's pace.
How Much Did Xcel's Dividends Add?
With dividends reinvested, Xcel stock returned 39.0% over the same five years. The payouts added 20.6 percentage points on top of the price change. That means more than half of a shareholder's total gain came from dividends rather than share price appreciation.
Did The Dividends Close The Gap For Xcel Holders?
The S&P 500 pays dividends too, so its dividends belong in the comparison.
| Return from Oct 15, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 | On price alone | With dividends reinvested |
|---|---|---|
| The stock | +18.4% | +39.0% |
| S&P 500 | +70.4% | +81.8% |
Before taxes and costs. The S&P 500 is measured through the SPDR S&P 500 ETF.
With dividends included, the S&P 500 returned 81.8%, which still leaves Xcel 42.8 percentage points behind. Factoring in dividends on both sides narrowed the performance gap by only about 9 points, because the market's own dividends kept adding to its lead. Xcel's payments offset a small portion of the shortfall with the market, leaving most of the deficit intact.
What This Means If You Own Xcel For Income
Xcel's dividends added more to its return than the S&P 500's dividends added to the market's. Over the past year, the S&P 500's dividends added less than 1 percentage point to its return, amounting to about a third of what Xcel's dividends contributed. That extra cash, however, accompanied a five-year return that continues to trail the market by a wide margin.
Almost all of Xcel's revenue comes from its regulated electric and gas business, with the electric utility generating 82.9% of revenue in fiscal 2025. The company's board declared its most recent quarterly dividend on July 29, 2026.
For an investor holding Xcel for income, the number to watch is the stock's five-year return with dividends compared to the S&P 500's return with dividends, not the dividend payment on its own.
Your Advisor Retired? Get A Second Opinion Before You Settle
For Xcel Energy holders, the dividend checks tell a different story from the price chart. When the advisor who built your plan moves on, it is a natural moment to ask whether the plan still fits the life you have now. Our partner advisory firm offers a free review of your holdings, fees and income plan.
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Insight Guru Inc. published this content on October 26, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 26, 2026 at 14:58 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]