AQN vs WEC vs XEL Stock Comparison

Algonquin Power & Utilities, Wec Energy and Xcel Energy Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
WEC Wec Energy Group, Inc.
$114.60 +11.7% 1M +0.0% 1Y
Market cap
$37.88B
P/E
20.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.32B
Div. yield
–
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
5 wins
XEL Xcel Energy Inc
$79.04 +11.8% 1M -0.8% 1Y
Market cap
$50.38B
P/E
18.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.87B
Div. yield
–
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Xcel Energy leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Xcel Energy 5, Wec Energy 5, Algonquin Power & Utilities 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAQNWECXELLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.17B $37.88B $50.38B XEL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 30.0x 20.9x 18.9x XEL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.0x 21.4x 18.4x AQN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.7% +8.1% +4.5% WEC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.5% — 17.9% XEL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.4% — 5.0% XEL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 7.0x — 6.0x XEL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.07% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.6% +0.0% -0.8% WEC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -17.8%/yr +4.9%/yr +4.1%/yr WEC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.7% 16.8% 19.3% WEC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 63/100 30/100 WEC

Percentile Scorecard

AQNWECXEL

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

AxisAQNWECXEL
Valuation 74 #18 of 67 44 #38 of 67 18 #55 of 67
Growth 67 #22 of 65 48 #34 of 65 50 #33 of 65
Profitability 65 #23 of 63 94 #5 of 63 48 #33 of 63
Financial Health 36 #40 of 62 – 31 #43 of 62
Shareholder Returns 35 #44 of 67 65 #24 of 67 0 #67 of 67
Overall 55 63 30
  • AQN ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • WEC ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • XEL ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAQNWECXELSPY
1 month +7.1%+11.7%+11.8% +0.7%
3 months -9.3%+4.2%+1.0% +3.7%
6 months -13.5%-2.8%-4.7% +7.1%
Year to date -11.7%+8.7%+7.0% +12.8%
1 year -3.6%+0.0%-0.8% +11.9%
3 years +5.4%+40.4%+34.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year +1.8%+12.0%+10.4% +22.8%
5 years -62.4%+27.2%+22.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year -17.8%+4.9%+4.1% +10.9%
10 years -38.4%+95.8%+94.3% +262.0%
10 years, per year -4.7%+7.0%+6.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAQNWECXELSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.7%16.8%19.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.3%15.9%19.5% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.23-0.15-0.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.140.00-0.04 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -73.3%-29.4%-37.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -22.2%-3.6%-5.8% -1.2%
52-week high $6.98$118.85$83.91 $779.14
52-week low $4.99$100.79$69.39 $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.

MultipleAQNWECXEL
P/E now vs peer median 30.0xmedian 20.5x 20.6xmedian 20.5x 18.6xmedian 20.5x
P/S now vs peer median 3.5xmedian 2.9x 3.6xmedian 2.9x 3.4xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.5xmedian 13.1x —median 13.1x 13.9xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.2xmedian 40.5x -34.4xmedian 40.5x -6.6xmedian 40.5x
P/B now vs peer median 0.8xmedian 1.7x 2.6xmedian 1.7x 2.0xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.85median 2.14 2.47median 2.14 1.82median 2.14

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 monthsAQNWECXEL
Revenue $1.21B $10.32B $14.87B
Gross profit -$435.80M – –
Operating income $525.40M $2.43B $3.23B
Net income $167.50M $1.81B $2.67B
Free cash flow $159.40M – -$7.62B
EPS (diluted) $0.18 $5.50 $4.22
Cash & equivalents $55.00M $58.80M $2.48B
Total debt $6.64B – $40.60B
Shares (diluted) 772.41M 328.90M 632.00M
Enterprise value $3.97B $37.88B $43.85B

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
MetricAQNWECXEL
P/E 30.0x 20.6x 18.6x
P/FCF 26.2x -34.4x -6.6x
P/Operating cash flow 4.1x 9.7x 9.9x
P/S 3.5x 3.6x 3.4x
P/B 0.8x 2.6x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 0.9x 2.6x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA 11.5x – 13.9x
EV/EBIT 20.5x – 27.3x
EV/Revenue 8.9x 3.6x 5.9x
EV/FCF 67.5x – -11.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.5x 9.7x 17.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.85 2.47 1.82

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAQNWECXEL
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.7% 8.1% 4.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.3% 3.8% 0.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.7% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.1% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 14.0% 2.0% 37.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -5.8% 7.7% 9.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 112.7% 7.2% 39.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 52.3% 9.9% 15.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 153.3% 5.7% 31.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.1% 8.4% 10.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.7% 8.5% 11.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.6% 14.8% -0.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -45.1% – -47.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 28.6% – -159.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAQNWECXEL
Gross margin -36.1% – –
EBITDA margin 77.8% – 42.7%
Operating margin 43.6% – 21.7%
Pretax margin 16.2% – 16.8%
Net margin 11.5% – 17.9%
FCF margin 13.2% – -51.2%
Operating cash flow margin 85.2% 37.2% 34.1%
Return on equity 1.5% 12.6% 10.8%
Return on assets – 3.4% 3.0%
Return on invested capital 3.4% – 5.0%
Return on capital employed – – 4.1%
Asset turnover – 0.2x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 6.1x 2.1x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 1.0% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAQNWECXEL
Debt / assets 47.7% – 44.8%
Debt / equity 1.3x – 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 7.0x – 6.0x
Debt / FCF 41.6x – -5.3x
Liabilities / assets 64.3% – 71.9%
Equity / assets 35.7% 27.0% 28.1%
Interest coverage 1.9x – 1.9x
Current ratio 0.9x 0.5x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.4x – 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.1x – 0.3x
Altman Z-score 0.18 – 0.86

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAQNWECXEL
Dividend yield 5.2% 3.3% 3.0%
Net buyback yield -0.2% – -6.0%
Shareholder yield 4.9% 3.3% -3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 180.2% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 189.3% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -30.8% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -17.9% – –

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.

ConsensusAQNWECXEL
Forward P/E 16.0xFY2026 21.4xFY2026 18.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.34FY2026 $5.35FY2026 $4.30FY2026
EPS growth, next FY 0.0%FY2026 +1.5%FY2026 +13.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.6% +17.9% +2.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.45BFY2026 $9.89BFY2026 $16.60BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.9%FY2026 +0.9%FY2026 +13.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +14.7% +3.5% +8.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAQNWECXEL
Held by institutions 68.7% 85.3% 95.4%
Institutions holding 241 1,395 1,286
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.1% +1.1% +7.3%
Institutions buying 129 705 665
Institutions selling 67 401 386
Buyers to sellers 1.93 1.76 1.72

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.

AQNWECXEL
AQN 1.00 0.37 0.33
WEC 0.37 1.00 0.82
XEL 0.33 0.82 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AQN, WEC and XEL?

Xcel Energy (XEL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) $4.17B, Wec Energy (WEC) $37.88B, Xcel Energy (XEL) $50.38B.

Which stock is cheaper, AQN, WEC and XEL?

Xcel Energy (XEL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 30.0x, Wec Energy (WEC) 20.9x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 18.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) is cheapest (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 16.0x, Wec Energy (WEC) 21.4x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 18.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Wec Energy (WEC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) +5.7%, Wec Energy (WEC) +8.1%, Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Xcel Energy (XEL) has the highest net margin (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 11.5%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 17.9%). On return on invested capital, Xcel Energy (XEL) leads (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 3.4%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 5.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Wec Energy (WEC) returned the most: Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) -3.6%, Wec Energy (WEC) +0.0%, Xcel Energy (XEL) -0.8%. Over five years, Wec Energy (WEC) compounded fastest (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) -17.8%/yr, Wec Energy (WEC) +4.9%/yr, Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 0.07%, Wec Energy (WEC) 0.00%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 0.00%. Wec Energy (WEC) and Xcel Energy (XEL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Wec Energy (WEC) has been the steadiest (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 25.7%, Wec Energy (WEC) 16.8%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 19.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AQN, WEC and XEL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Xcel Energy (XEL) 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.