NRG vs AEP vs VST Stock Comparison

Nrg Energy, American Electric Power and Vistra Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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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
3 wins
VST Vistra Corp.
$140.15 +1.6% 1M -26.8% 1Y
Market cap
$47.77B
P/E
23.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.21B
Div. yield
0.01%
Independent Power Producers Utilities
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Vistra leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Vistra 5, American Electric Power 4, Nrg Energy 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNRGAEPVSTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $19.73B $70.33B $47.77B AEP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.2x 25.5x 23.6x VST
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 10.8x 21.7x 15.9x NRG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.8% +10.3% +3.8% NRG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.4% 12.1% 10.6% AEP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.8% 5.5% 11.3% VST
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 6.2x 6.0x 2.8x VST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.01% NRG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -43.6% +11.6% -26.8% AEP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +17.5%/yr +8.7%/yr +49.0%/yr VST
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 50.0% 19.4% 51.0% AEP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 40/100 68/100 VST

Percentile Scorecard

NRGAEPVST

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

AxisNRGAEPVST
Valuation 65 #9 of 24 23 #52 of 67 74 #7 of 24
Growth 77 #6 of 23 64 #24 of 65 55 #11 of 23
Profitability 73 #7 of 23 58 #28 of 65 100 #1 of 23
Financial Health 17 #20 of 24 26 #49 of 66 39 #15 of 24
Shareholder Returns 90 #3 of 20 27 #49 of 67 74 #6 of 20
Overall 64 40 68
  • NRG ranked among 24 companies in Power Generation
  • AEP ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • VST ranked among 24 companies in Power Generation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNRGAEPVSTSPY
1 month -8.3%+9.5%+1.6% -1.0%
3 months -34.5%-4.3%-14.2% +2.9%
6 months -42.2%-3.7%-14.7% +6.4%
Year to date -42.0%+12.5%-13.1% +11.4%
1 year -43.6%+11.6%-26.8% +13.1%
3 years +119.4%+73.5%+328.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +30.0%+20.2%+62.5% +21.5%
5 years +123.9%+51.5%+633.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year +17.5%+8.7%+49.0% +10.9%
10 years +701.4%+107.6%+792.7% +255.2%
10 years, per year +23.1%+7.6%+24.5% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureNRGAEPVSTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 50.0%19.4%51.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 55.6%19.2%55.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.41-0.071.59 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.870.60-0.52 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.8%-32.2%-48.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -49.8%-6.5%-30.4% -2.5%
52-week high $184.03$138.69$201.47 $779.14
52-week low $92.32$113.70$134.71 $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.

MultipleNRGAEPVST
P/E now vs peer median 24.9xmedian 24.1x 25.6xmedian 20.8x 23.3xmedian 24.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 2.6x 3.1xmedian 2.8x 2.5xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 11.3x 14.0xmedian 13.1x 10.2xmedian 11.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 55.8xmedian 12.9x -12.3xmedian 36.7x 20.9xmedian 12.9x
P/B now vs peer median 4.0xmedian 2.1x 2.1xmedian 1.7x 8.6xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 0.73median 0.59 2.77median 2.27 1.47median 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 monthsNRGAEPVST
Revenue $33.13B $22.79B $19.21B
Gross profit $6.23B $15.43B –
Operating income $2.02B $5.24B $3.56B
Net income $849.00M $3.07B $2.22B
Free cash flow $348.00M -$5.75B $2.26B
EPS (diluted) $3.69 $5.02 $5.98
Cash & equivalents $162.00M $375.00M $435.00M
Total debt $23.44B $52.84B $19.60B
Shares (diluted) 212.00M 550.63M 339.23M
Enterprise value $13.95B $67.50B $40.96B

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
MetricNRGAEPVST
P/E 24.9x 25.6x 23.3x
P/FCF 55.8x -12.3x 20.9x
P/Operating cash flow 12.5x 9.2x 9.2x
P/S 0.6x 3.1x 2.5x
P/B 4.0x 2.1x 8.6x
P/Tangible book 7.2x 2.1x 14.7x
EV/EBITDA 11.3x 14.0x 10.2x
EV/EBIT 21.2x 23.4x 18.2x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 5.4x 3.4x
EV/FCF 122.7x -21.3x 28.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.5x 16.0x 12.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.73 2.77 1.47

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNRGAEPVST
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.8% 10.3% 3.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.9% 5.4% 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 22.9% 8.1% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 348.5% 7.8% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 57.9% 2.2% -0.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 43.0% 19.5% 12.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 62.6% -17.4% -8.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 34.1% 15.7% 11.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 58.9% 5.2% -6.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 34.1% 9.2% 15.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -32.1% 17.1% 21.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 33.9% 22.6% 6.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -75.0% -63.5% 36.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 27.6% -19.1% -4.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNRGAEPVST
Gross margin 18.8% 67.7% –
EBITDA margin 11.4% 38.4% 33.0%
Operating margin 6.1% 23.0% 18.5%
Pretax margin 3.2% 15.4% 14.6%
Net margin 2.4% 12.1% 10.6%
FCF margin 1.1% -25.2% 11.7%
Operating cash flow margin 4.7% 33.8% 26.7%
Return on equity 17.5% 9.6% 40.0%
Return on assets 2.1% 2.7% 5.3%
Return on invested capital 5.8% 5.5% 11.3%
Return on capital employed 6.7% 5.0% 11.3%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.2x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 2.5x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% – 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNRGAEPVST
Debt / assets 58.7% 43.5% 46.0%
Debt / equity 4.8x 1.6x 3.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 6.2x 6.0x 2.8x
Debt / FCF 67.3x -9.2x 8.7x
Liabilities / assets 87.8% 72.6% 87.1%
Equity / assets 12.2% 27.4% 12.9%
Interest coverage 2.0x 2.4x 3.1x
Current ratio 1.0x 0.5x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.3x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 1.40 0.92 1.52

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNRGAEPVST
Dividend yield 2.0% 2.9% 0.7%
Net buyback yield 8.4% – 2.4%
Shareholder yield 10.5% 2.9% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 51.7% – 13.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) 126.1% – 13.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) 7.6% – 0.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.1% – 0.5%

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.

ConsensusNRGAEPVST
Forward P/E 10.8xFY2026 21.7xFY2026 15.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.55FY2026 $5.99FY2026 $8.84FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5.9%FY2026 +0.3%FY2026 +305.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +32.5% +19.2% +21.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $36.32BFY2026 $23.04BFY2026 $21.35BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +18.3%FY2026 +5.3%FY2026 +20.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.9% +3.4% +21.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNRGAEPVST
Held by institutions 93.7% 92.1% 84.4%
Institutions holding 1,023 1,984 1,403
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.7% +13.2% +2.7%
Institutions buying 508 1,064 852
Institutions selling 385 584 415
Buyers to sellers 1.32 1.82 2.05

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.

NRGAEPVST
NRG 1.00 0.29 0.78
AEP 0.29 1.00 0.22
VST 0.78 0.22 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NRG, AEP and VST?

American Electric Power (AEP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Nrg Energy (NRG) $19.73B, American Electric Power (AEP) $70.33B, Vistra (VST) $47.77B.

Which stock is cheaper, NRG, AEP and VST?

Vistra (VST) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Nrg Energy (NRG) 25.2x, American Electric Power (AEP) 25.5x, Vistra (VST) 23.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nrg Energy (NRG) is cheapest (Nrg Energy (NRG) 10.8x, American Electric Power (AEP) 21.7x, Vistra (VST) 15.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nrg Energy (NRG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Nrg Energy (NRG) +12.8%, American Electric Power (AEP) +10.3%, Vistra (VST) +3.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Electric Power (AEP) has the highest net margin (Nrg Energy (NRG) 2.4%, American Electric Power (AEP) 12.1%, Vistra (VST) 10.6%). On return on invested capital, Vistra (VST) leads (Nrg Energy (NRG) 5.8%, American Electric Power (AEP) 5.5%, Vistra (VST) 11.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Electric Power (AEP) returned the most: Nrg Energy (NRG) -43.6%, American Electric Power (AEP) +11.6%, Vistra (VST) -26.8%. Over five years, Vistra (VST) compounded fastest (Nrg Energy (NRG) +17.5%/yr, American Electric Power (AEP) +8.7%/yr, Vistra (VST) +49.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Nrg Energy (NRG) has the highest dividend yield: Nrg Energy (NRG) 0.02%, American Electric Power (AEP) 0.00%, Vistra (VST) 0.01%. American Electric Power (AEP) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, American Electric Power (AEP) has been the steadiest (Nrg Energy (NRG) 50.0%, American Electric Power (AEP) 19.4%, Vistra (VST) 51.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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