15 Best Nuclear Power Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts

12. Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Upside Potential as of May 26: 13.89%

Next on our list of the Best Nuclear Energy Stocks is Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL). It is a major US electricity and natural gas company with operations in 8 Western and Midwestern states.

On May 21, Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5925 per share. The dividend is payable on July 20 to shareholders as of the June 15 record. The utility has raised its payout for 23 consecutive years and continues to target annual dividend increases of 4%-6% and a payout ratio of 45%-55%. XEL currently boasts an impressive annual dividend yield of 2.97%.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) is targeting earnings in the range of $4.04 to $4.16 per share for full-year 2026. Moreover, the utility remains confident to deliver 6% to 8+% long-term earnings growth and expects to deliver 9% EPS growth on average through 2030.

Xcel also continues to benefit from the AI boom and is already developing solutions for 2 GW of new data center capacity. The company is forecasting to secure 6 GW of data center load by year-end 2027.

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