AEP vs NRG vs TLN Stock Comparison

American Electric Power, Nrg Energy and Talen Energy Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NRG Nrg Energy, Inc.
$92.32 -8.3% 1M -43.6% 1Y
Market cap
$19.73B
P/E
25.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$33.13B
Div. yield
0.02%
Independent Power Producers Utilities
5 wins
TLN Talen Energy Corp
$327.91 +9.2% 1M -14.6% 1Y
Market cap
$15.51B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$3.44B
Div. yield
–
Independent Power Producers Utilities
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

American Electric Power leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (American Electric Power 5, Nrg Energy 5, Talen Energy 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAEPNRGTLNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $70.33B $19.73B $15.51B AEP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.5x 25.2x -83.8x NRG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.7x 10.8x 16.0x NRG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.3% +12.8% +60.8% TLN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.1% 2.4% -5.4% AEP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.5% 5.8% 0.9% NRG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 6.0x 6.2x 19.3x AEP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.6% -43.6% -14.6% AEP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.7%/yr +17.5%/yr — NRG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 19.4% 50.0% 57.4% AEP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 40/100 64/100 43/100 NRG

Percentile Scorecard

AEPNRGTLN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAEPNRGTLN
Valuation 23 #52 of 67 65 #9 of 24 26 #18 of 24
Growth 64 #24 of 65 77 #6 of 23 59 #10 of 23
Profitability 58 #28 of 65 73 #7 of 23 36 #15 of 23
Financial Health 26 #49 of 66 17 #20 of 24 9 #22 of 24
Shareholder Returns 27 #49 of 67 90 #3 of 20 84 #4 of 20
Overall 40 64 43
  • AEP ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • NRG ranked among 24 companies in Power Generation
  • TLN ranked among 24 companies in Power Generation

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAEPNRGTLNSPY
1 month +9.5%-8.3%+9.2% -1.0%
3 months -4.3%-34.5%-8.9% +2.9%
6 months -3.7%-42.2%-10.0% +6.4%
Year to date +12.5%-42.0%-12.5% +11.4%
1 year +11.6%-43.6%-14.6% +13.1%
3 years +73.5%+119.4%+516.5% +79.4%
3 years, per year +20.2%+30.0%+83.4% +21.5%
5 years +51.5%+123.9%— +67.7%
5 years, per year +8.7%+17.5%— +10.9%
10 years +107.6%+701.4%— +255.2%
10 years, per year +7.6%+23.1%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAEPNRGTLNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 19.4%50.0%57.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.2%55.6%61.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.071.412.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.60-0.87-0.25 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.2%-49.8%-35.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.5%-49.8%-25.2% -2.5%
52-week high $138.69$184.03$438.12 $779.14
52-week low $113.70$92.32$286.52 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAEPNRGTLN
P/E now vs peer median 25.6xmedian 20.8x 24.9xmedian 24.1x -81.4xmedian 24.1x
P/S now vs peer median 3.1xmedian 2.8x 0.6xmedian 2.6x 4.6xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.0xmedian 13.1x 11.3xmedian 11.3x 51.9xmedian 11.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median -12.3xmedian 36.7x 55.8xmedian 12.9x 27.7xmedian 12.9x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 1.7x 4.0xmedian 2.1x 9.6xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 2.77median 2.27 0.73median 0.59 —median 0.59

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAEPNRGTLN
Revenue $22.79B $33.13B $3.44B
Gross profit $15.43B $6.23B –
Operating income $5.24B $2.02B $88.00M
Net income $3.07B $849.00M -$185.00M
Free cash flow -$5.75B $348.00M $568.00M
EPS (diluted) $5.02 $3.69 $-4.03
Cash & equivalents $375.00M $162.00M $231.00M
Total debt $52.84B $23.44B $9.57B
Shares (diluted) 550.63M 212.00M 45.90M
Enterprise value $67.50B $13.95B $13.07B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAEPNRGTLN
P/E 25.6x 24.9x -81.4x
P/FCF -12.3x 55.8x 27.7x
P/Operating cash flow 9.2x 12.5x 19.7x
P/S 3.1x 0.6x 4.6x
P/B 2.1x 4.0x 9.6x
P/Tangible book 2.1x 7.2x 9.6x
EV/EBITDA 14.0x 11.3x 51.9x
EV/EBIT 23.4x 21.2x 284.6x
EV/Revenue 5.4x 1.3x 7.3x
EV/FCF -21.3x 122.7x 44.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.0x 27.5x 31.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.77 0.73 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAEPNRGTLN
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.3% 12.8% 60.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.4% 2.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.1% 22.9% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 348.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 2.2% 57.9% -34.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 19.5% 43.0% –
Net income growth (1Y) -17.4% 62.6% -206.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 15.7% 34.1% –
EPS growth (1Y) 5.2% 58.9% -203.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.2% 34.1% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 17.1% -32.1% 1,121%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.6% 33.9% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -63.5% -75.0% 422.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -19.1% 27.6% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAEPNRGTLN
Gross margin 67.7% 18.8% –
EBITDA margin 38.4% 11.4% 14.1%
Operating margin 23.0% 6.1% 2.6%
Pretax margin 15.4% 3.2% -3.6%
Net margin 12.1% 2.4% -5.4%
FCF margin -25.2% 1.1% 16.5%
Operating cash flow margin 33.8% 4.7% 23.2%
Return on equity 9.6% 17.5% -13.6%
Return on assets 2.7% 2.1% -1.4%
Return on invested capital 5.5% 5.8% 0.9%
Return on capital employed 5.0% 6.7% 0.8%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.8x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.5x 1.8x -4.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.4% 2.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAEPNRGTLN
Debt / assets 43.5% 58.7% 63.5%
Debt / equity 1.6x 4.8x 5.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 6.0x 6.2x 19.3x
Debt / FCF -9.2x 67.3x 16.9x
Liabilities / assets 72.6% 87.8% 89.1%
Equity / assets 27.4% 12.2% 10.9%
Interest coverage 2.4x 2.0x 0.2x
Current ratio 0.5x 1.0x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.3x 0.5x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 0.92 1.40 0.84

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAEPNRGTLN
Dividend yield 2.9% 2.0% –
Net buyback yield – 8.4% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 2.9% 10.5% 1.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 51.7% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 126.1% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 7.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 9.1% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAEPNRGTLN
Forward P/E 21.7xFY2026 10.8xFY2026 16.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.99FY2026 $8.55FY2026 $20.49FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.3%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +19.2% +32.5% +60.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $23.04BFY2026 $36.32BFY2026 $4.60BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.3%FY2026 +18.3%FY2026 +78.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.4% -0.9% +5.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAEPNRGTLN
Held by institutions 92.1% 93.7% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,984 1,023 637
Change in shares held, QoQ +13.2% +0.7% +5.4%
Institutions buying 1,064 508 379
Institutions selling 584 385 190
Buyers to sellers 1.82 1.32 1.99

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AEPNRGTLN
AEP 1.00 0.29 0.13
NRG 0.29 1.00 0.68
TLN 0.13 0.68 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AEP, NRG and TLN?

American Electric Power (AEP) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Electric Power (AEP) $70.33B, Nrg Energy (NRG) $19.73B, Talen Energy (TLN) $15.51B.

Which stock is cheaper, AEP, NRG and TLN?

Nrg Energy (NRG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Electric Power (AEP) 25.5x, Nrg Energy (NRG) 25.2x, Talen Energy (TLN) -83.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nrg Energy (NRG) is cheapest (American Electric Power (AEP) 21.7x, Nrg Energy (NRG) 10.8x, Talen Energy (TLN) 16.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Talen Energy (TLN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Electric Power (AEP) +10.3%, Nrg Energy (NRG) +12.8%, Talen Energy (TLN) +60.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Electric Power (AEP) has the highest net margin (American Electric Power (AEP) 12.1%, Nrg Energy (NRG) 2.4%, Talen Energy (TLN) -5.4%). On return on invested capital, Nrg Energy (NRG) leads (American Electric Power (AEP) 5.5%, Nrg Energy (NRG) 5.8%, Talen Energy (TLN) 0.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Electric Power (AEP) returned the most: American Electric Power (AEP) +11.6%, Nrg Energy (NRG) -43.6%, Talen Energy (TLN) -14.6%. Over five years, Nrg Energy (NRG) compounded fastest (American Electric Power (AEP) +8.7%/yr, Nrg Energy (NRG) +17.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: American Electric Power (AEP) 0.00%, Nrg Energy (NRG) 0.02%, Talen Energy (TLN) 0.00%. American Electric Power (AEP) and Talen Energy (TLN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, American Electric Power (AEP) has been the steadiest (American Electric Power (AEP) 19.4%, Nrg Energy (NRG) 50.0%, Talen Energy (TLN) 57.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AEP, NRG and TLN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, American Electric Power (AEP) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.