AQN vs XEL Stock Comparison

Algonquin Power & Utilities and Xcel Energy Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
XEL Xcel Energy Inc
$77.86 +11.5% 1M -3.1% 1Y
Market cap
$48.62B
P/E
21.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.62B
Div. yield
3.01%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
8 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Xcel Energy leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Xcel Energy 8, Algonquin Power & Utilities 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAQNXELLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.12B $48.62B XEL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.6x 21.8x XEL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.8x 18.1x AQN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.7% +4.7% AQN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.5% 15.3% XEL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.4% 4.5% XEL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 7.0x 6.4x XEL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 5.22% 3.01% AQN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -6.9% -3.1% XEL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -18.0%/yr +4.2%/yr XEL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.7% 19.2% XEL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 16/100 AQN

Percentile Scorecard

AQNXEL

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

AxisAQNXEL
Valuation 76 #17 of 67 5 #64 of 67
Growth 69 #21 of 65 16 #55 of 65
Profitability 67 #22 of 64 29 #46 of 64
Financial Health 38 #40 of 64 32 #44 of 64
Shareholder Returns 36 #43 of 67 0 #67 of 67
Overall 57 16
  • AQN 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

PeriodAQNXELSPY
1 month +7.4%+11.5% -0.8%
3 months -11.0%-3.5% +3.5%
6 months -14.9%-2.0% +7.0%
Year to date -12.8%+5.4% +12.2%
1 year -6.9%-3.1% +13.0%
3 years +6.6%+33.5% +86.3%
3 years, per year +2.1%+10.1% +23.1%
5 years -62.8%+22.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year -18.0%+4.2% +11.0%
10 years -39.0%+91.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year -4.8%+6.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAQNXELSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.7%19.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.4%19.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.23-0.02 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.27-0.16 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -73.3%-37.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -23.2%-7.2% -1.8%
52-week high $6.98$83.91 $779.14
52-week low $4.99$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.

MultipleAQNXEL
P/E now vs peer median 29.6xmedian 20.8x 21.8xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.4xmedian 2.9x 3.3xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.4xmedian 13.1x 14.7xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.8xmedian 36.7x -6.3xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 0.8xmedian 1.7x 2.0xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.84median 2.23 5.10median 2.23

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 monthsAQNXEL
Revenue $1.21B $14.62B
Gross profit -$435.80M –
Operating income $525.40M $2.79B
Net income $167.50M $2.23B
Free cash flow $159.40M -$7.69B
EPS (diluted) $0.18 $3.56
Cash & equivalents $55.00M $2.01B
Total debt $6.64B $39.46B
Shares (diluted) 772.41M 627.00M
Enterprise value $4.28B $43.52B

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
MetricAQNXEL
P/E 29.6x 21.8x
P/FCF 25.8x -6.3x
P/Operating cash flow 4.0x 10.2x
P/S 3.4x 3.3x
P/B 0.8x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 0.8x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA 11.4x 14.7x
EV/EBIT 20.4x 30.9x
EV/Revenue 8.9x 5.9x
EV/FCF 67.1x -11.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.4x 18.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.84 5.10

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAQNXEL
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.7% 4.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.3% -1.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.1% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 14.0% 11.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -5.8% 4.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 112.7% 7.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 52.3% 8.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 153.3% 1.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.1% 4.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.7% 5.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.6% 2.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -45.1% -97.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 28.6% -112.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAQNXEL
Gross margin -36.1% –
EBITDA margin 77.8% 39.9%
Operating margin 43.6% 19.1%
Pretax margin 16.2% 13.7%
Net margin 11.5% 15.3%
FCF margin 13.2% -52.6%
Operating cash flow margin 85.2% 32.6%
Return on equity 1.5% 9.3%
Return on assets – 2.6%
Return on invested capital 3.4% 4.5%
Return on capital employed – 3.6%
Asset turnover – 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 6.1x 2.1x
Stock comp / revenue 1.0% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAQNXEL
Debt / assets 47.7% 45.3%
Debt / equity 1.3x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 7.0x 6.4x
Debt / FCF 41.6x -5.1x
Liabilities / assets 64.3% 72.4%
Equity / assets 35.7% 27.6%
Interest coverage 1.9x 1.7x
Current ratio 0.9x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 0.18 0.85

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAQNXEL
Dividend yield 5.2% 3.0%
Net buyback yield -0.2% -4.6%
Shareholder yield 5.0% -1.6%
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.

ConsensusAQNXEL
Forward P/E 15.8xFY2026 18.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.34FY2026 $4.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY 0.0%FY2026 +12.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.6% +2.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.45BFY2026 $16.60BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.9%FY2026 +13.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +14.7% +8.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAQNXEL
Held by institutions 68.7% 95.4%
Institutions holding 241 1,284
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.1% +7.3%
Institutions buying 129 663
Institutions selling 67 386
Buyers to sellers 1.93 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.

AQNXEL
AQN 1.00 0.32
XEL 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AQN and XEL?

Xcel Energy (XEL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) $4.12B, Xcel Energy (XEL) $48.62B.

Which stock is cheaper, AQN and XEL?

Xcel Energy (XEL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 29.6x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 21.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) is cheapest (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 15.8x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 18.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) +5.7%, Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Xcel Energy (XEL) has the highest net margin (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 11.5%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 15.3%). On return on invested capital, Xcel Energy (XEL) leads (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 3.4%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 4.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Xcel Energy (XEL) returned the most: Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) -6.9%, Xcel Energy (XEL) -3.1%. Over five years, Xcel Energy (XEL) compounded fastest (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) -18.0%/yr, Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) has the highest dividend yield: Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 5.22%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 3.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Xcel Energy (XEL) has been the steadiest (Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 25.7%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 19.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do AQN and XEL move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.32, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, AQN 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 8. 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.