NGG vs XEL vs EXC Stock Comparison

National Grid, Xcel Energy and Exelon Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NGG National Grid Plc
$81.77 +8.4% 1M +6.3% 1Y
Market cap
$85.02B
P/E
18.6x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
3.96%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
6 wins
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
2 wins
EXC Exelon Corp
$44.54 +10.4% 1M -7.3% 1Y
Market cap
$45.97B
P/E
16.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$25.33B
Div. yield
3.73%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

National Grid leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (National Grid 6, Exelon 4, Xcel Energy 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNGGXELEXCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $85.02B $48.62B $45.97B NGG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.6x 21.8x 16.4x EXC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.0x 18.1x 14.8x NGG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +4.7% +6.6% EXC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 15.3% 11.0% XEL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 4.5% 5.4% EXC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 6.4x 5.6x EXC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 3.96% 3.01% 3.73% NGG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.3% -3.1% -7.3% NGG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.0%/yr +4.2%/yr +3.7%/yr NGG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.5% 19.2% 20.1% XEL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 76/100 16/100 64/100 NGG

Percentile Scorecard

NGGXELEXC

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

AxisNGGXELEXC
Valuation 58 #16 of 37 8 #34 of 37 81 #8 of 37
Growth – 9 #32 of 35 77 #9 of 35
Profitability – 21 #28 of 35 41 #21 of 35
Financial Health 86 #6 of 36 37 #23 of 36 54 #17 of 36
Shareholder Returns 83 #7 of 37 3 #36 of 37 67 #13 of 37
Overall 76 16 64
  • NGG ranked among 37 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • XEL ranked among 37 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • EXC ranked among 37 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNGGXELEXCSPY
1 month +8.4%+11.5%+10.4% -0.8%
3 months +0.7%-3.5%-5.5% +3.5%
6 months -6.3%-2.0%-4.4% +7.0%
Year to date +5.7%+5.4%+2.2% +12.2%
1 year +6.3%-3.1%-7.3% +13.0%
3 years +36.6%+33.5%+15.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +11.0%+10.1%+5.0% +23.1%
5 years +27.6%+22.8%+20.1% +68.6%
5 years, per year +5.0%+4.2%+3.7% +11.0%
10 years +15.9%+91.8%+87.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year +1.5%+6.7%+6.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureNGGXELEXCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.5%19.2%20.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.2%19.4%20.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.31-0.02-0.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.28-0.16-0.36 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -40.9%-37.4%-33.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.9%-7.2%-11.4% -1.8%
52-week high $93.93$83.91$50.29 $779.14
52-week low $73.54$69.39$40.20 $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.

MultipleNGGXELEXC
P/E now vs peer median 18.6xmedian 21.0x 21.8xmedian 21.0x 16.4xmedian 21.0x
P/S now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 3.0x 3.3xmedian 3.0x 1.8xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 12.8x 14.7xmedian 12.8x 10.7xmedian 12.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median -29.4xmedian 31.2x -6.3xmedian 31.2x -24.0xmedian 31.2x
P/B now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 1.9x 2.0xmedian 1.9x 1.5xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median —median 2.27 5.10median 2.27 1.96median 2.27

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 monthsNGGXELEXC
Revenue – $14.62B $25.33B
Operating income – $2.79B $5.27B
Net income – $2.23B $2.78B
Free cash flow – -$7.69B -$1.92B
EPS (diluted) – $3.56 $2.71
Cash & equivalents $493.98M $2.01B $1.81B
Total debt $61.59B $39.46B $201.12B
Shares (diluted) 994.20M 627.00M 1.03B
Enterprise value $57.36B $43.52B $41.28B

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
MetricNGGXELEXC
P/E 18.6x 21.8x 16.4x
P/FCF -29.4x -6.3x -24.0x
P/Operating cash flow – 10.2x 6.4x
P/S 3.6x 3.3x 1.8x
P/B 1.6x 2.0x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 1.8x 2.0x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA – 14.7x 10.7x
EV/EBIT – 30.9x 18.3x
EV/Revenue – 5.9x 3.8x
EV/FCF – -11.2x -50.3x
EV/Operating cash flow – 18.0x 13.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 5.10 1.96

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNGGXELEXC
Revenue growth (1Y) – 4.7% 6.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -1.4% 8.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 11.0% 10.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 4.6% 14.3%
Net income growth (1Y) – 7.7% 4.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 8.8% 9.5%
EPS growth (1Y) – 1.0% 3.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 4.3% 8.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 5.8% 23.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 2.7% 28.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -97.2% -8.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -112.8% 21.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNGGXELEXC
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – 39.9% 35.6%
Operating margin – 19.1% 20.8%
Pretax margin – 13.7% 13.3%
Net margin – 15.3% 11.0%
FCF margin – -52.6% -7.6%
Operating cash flow margin – 32.6% 28.5%
Return on equity – 9.3% 9.4%
Return on assets – 2.6% 2.3%
Return on invested capital – 4.5% 5.4%
Return on capital employed – 3.6% 4.8%
Asset turnover – 0.2x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 2.1x 2.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNGGXELEXC
Debt / assets 43.2% 45.3% 43.4%
Debt / equity 1.2x 1.6x 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – 6.4x 5.6x
Debt / FCF – -5.1x -27.3x
Liabilities / assets 63.7% 72.4% 75.4%
Equity / assets 36.3% 27.6% 24.6%
Interest coverage – 1.7x –
Current ratio 0.8x 0.7x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.4x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 0.85 0.76

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNGGXELEXC
Dividend yield 4.0% 3.0% 3.7%
Net buyback yield – -4.6% –
Shareholder yield 4.0% -1.6% 3.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 59.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – -87.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 6.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 6.3%

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.

ConsensusNGGXELEXC
Forward P/E 14.0xFY2026 18.1xFY2026 14.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.86FY2026 $4.29FY2026 $3.01FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +11.4%FY2026 +12.9%FY2026 +8.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.7% +2.3% +7.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $25.38BFY2026 $16.60BFY2026 $26.88BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.4%FY2026 +13.1%FY2026 +10.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.6% +8.5% -8.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNGGXELEXC
Held by institutions 6.2% 95.4% 92.0%
Institutions holding 617 1,284 1,282
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.6% +7.3% +5.8%
Institutions buying 352 663 699
Institutions selling 159 386 372
Buyers to sellers 2.21 1.72 1.88

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.

NGGXELEXC
NGG 1.00 0.52 0.40
XEL 0.52 1.00 0.64
EXC 0.40 0.64 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NGG, XEL and EXC?

National Grid (NGG) is the largest by market capitalisation: National Grid (NGG) $85.02B, Xcel Energy (XEL) $48.62B, Exelon (EXC) $45.97B.

Which stock is cheaper, NGG, XEL and EXC?

Exelon (EXC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (National Grid (NGG) 18.6x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 21.8x, Exelon (EXC) 16.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, National Grid (NGG) is cheapest (National Grid (NGG) 14.0x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 18.1x, Exelon (EXC) 14.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Exelon (EXC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.7%, Exelon (EXC) +6.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Xcel Energy (XEL) has the highest net margin (Xcel Energy (XEL) 15.3%, Exelon (EXC) 11.0%). On return on invested capital, Exelon (EXC) leads (Xcel Energy (XEL) 4.5%, Exelon (EXC) 5.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year National Grid (NGG) returned the most: National Grid (NGG) +6.3%, Xcel Energy (XEL) -3.1%, Exelon (EXC) -7.3%. Over five years, National Grid (NGG) compounded fastest (National Grid (NGG) +5.0%/yr, Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.2%/yr, Exelon (EXC) +3.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

National Grid (NGG) has the highest dividend yield: National Grid (NGG) 3.96%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 3.01%, Exelon (EXC) 3.73%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Xcel Energy (XEL) has been the steadiest (National Grid (NGG) 22.5%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 19.2%, Exelon (EXC) 20.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NGG, XEL and EXC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, National Grid (NGG) leads on 6. 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.