SO vs XEL vs ED Stock Comparison

Southern, Xcel Energy and Consolidated Edison Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SO Southern Co
$92.56 +11.7% 1M -3.5% 1Y
Market cap
$106.48B
P/E
22.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$30.18B
Div. yield
3.24%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
4 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
1 win
ED Consolidated Edison Inc
$115.44 +11.9% 1M +15.4% 1Y
Market cap
$42.69B
P/E
21.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.69B
Div. yield
3.05%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Consolidated Edison leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Consolidated Edison 7, Southern 4, Xcel Energy 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSOXELEDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $106.48B $48.62B $42.69B SO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.6x 21.8x 21.0x ED
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.1x 18.1x 18.2x XEL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.4% +4.7% +9.5% ED
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.4% 15.3% 11.5% SO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.1% 4.5% 9.1% ED
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.3x 6.4x -0.1x ED
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 3.24% 3.01% 3.05% SO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.5% -3.1% +15.4% ED
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.1%/yr +4.2%/yr +8.7%/yr ED
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 17.9% 19.2% 18.0% SO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 43/100 16/100 53/100 ED

Percentile Scorecard

SOXELED

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

AxisSOXELED
Valuation 36 #43 of 67 5 #64 of 67 80 #14 of 67
Growth 53 #31 of 65 16 #55 of 65 30 #46 of 65
Profitability 78 #15 of 64 29 #46 of 64 33 #43 of 64
Financial Health 35 #42 of 64 32 #44 of 64 89 #8 of 64
Shareholder Returns 15 #57 of 67 0 #67 of 67 33 #45 of 67
Overall 43 16 53
  • SO ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • XEL ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • ED ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSOXELEDSPY
1 month +11.7%+11.5%+11.9% -0.8%
3 months -4.1%-3.5%+3.6% +3.5%
6 months -1.3%-2.0%+6.1% +7.0%
Year to date +6.1%+5.4%+16.2% +12.2%
1 year -3.5%-3.1%+15.4% +13.0%
3 years +39.1%+33.5%+32.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +11.6%+10.1%+9.7% +23.1%
5 years +47.8%+22.8%+51.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year +8.1%+4.2%+8.7% +11.0%
10 years +81.6%+91.8%+56.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year +6.1%+6.7%+4.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSOXELEDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 17.9%19.2%18.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 17.5%19.4%17.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.23-0.02-0.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.19-0.160.85 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -23.3%-37.4%-22.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.6%-7.2%-0.7% -1.8%
52-week high $99.11$83.91$116.25 $779.14
52-week low $82.35$69.39$95.41 $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.

MultipleSOXELED
P/E now vs peer median 22.6xmedian 20.8x 21.8xmedian 20.8x 21.0xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.5xmedian 2.9x 3.3xmedian 2.9x 2.4xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.1xmedian 13.1x 14.7xmedian 13.1x 7.6xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -32.6xmedian 36.7x -6.3xmedian 36.7x -49.5xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 1.7x 2.0xmedian 1.7x 1.7xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.71median 2.23 5.10median 2.23 -2.55median 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 monthsSOXELED
Revenue $30.18B $14.62B $17.69B
Gross profit $25.14B – $9.44B
Operating income $7.31B $2.79B $3.18B
Net income $4.66B $2.23B $2.22B
Free cash flow -$3.27B -$7.69B -$862.00M
EPS (diluted) $4.08 $3.56 $5.48
Cash & equivalents $2.98B $2.01B $1.47B
Total debt $295.00B $39.46B $5.26B
Shares (diluted) 1.14B 627.00M 370.00M
Enterprise value $97.53B $43.52B $39.27B

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
MetricSOXELED
P/E 22.6x 21.8x 21.0x
P/FCF -32.6x -6.3x -49.5x
P/Operating cash flow 10.0x 10.2x 10.8x
P/S 3.5x 3.3x 2.4x
P/B 2.5x 2.0x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 2.5x 2.0x 1.7x
EV/EBITDA 13.1x 14.7x 7.6x
EV/EBIT 24.5x 30.9x 13.3x
EV/Revenue 5.9x 5.9x 2.4x
EV/FCF -54.8x -11.2x -48.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.8x 18.0x 10.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.71 5.10 -2.55

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSOXELED
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.4% 4.7% 9.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.0% -1.4% 4.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.3% – 9.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 1.6% – 7.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.5% 11.0% 12.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.7% 4.6% -2.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.7% 7.7% 14.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 16.2% 8.8% -3.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 5.6% 1.0% 2.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 31.9% 4.3% -8.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 15.5% 5.8% -12.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 23.7% 2.7% 8.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -152.2% -97.2% -210.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.1% -112.8% 12.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSOXELED
Gross margin 83.3% – 53.4%
EBITDA margin 45.2% 39.9% 31.6%
Operating margin 24.2% 19.1% 18.0%
Pretax margin 17.4% 13.7% 16.4%
Net margin 15.4% 15.3% 11.5%
FCF margin -10.8% -52.6% -4.9%
Operating cash flow margin 35.3% 32.6% 22.4%
Return on equity 9.2% 9.3% 8.6%
Return on assets 2.9% 2.6% 2.9%
Return on invested capital 5.1% 4.5% 9.1%
Return on capital employed 5.1% 3.6% 4.5%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.2x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 2.1x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSOXELED
Debt / assets 46.6% 45.3% 1.3%
Debt / equity 1.8x 1.6x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.3x 6.4x -0.1x
Debt / FCF -23.1x -5.1x -1.1x
Liabilities / assets 73.9% 72.4% 66.4%
Equity / assets 26.1% 27.6% 33.6%
Interest coverage 2.3x 1.7x 2.6x
Current ratio 0.8x 0.7x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.4x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.3x
Altman Z-score – 0.85 1.18

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSOXELED
Dividend yield 3.2% 3.0% 3.0%
Net buyback yield – -4.6% -2.2%
Shareholder yield 3.2% -1.6% 0.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 66.6% – 54.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) -94.8% – -140.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.7% – 7.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.2% – 3.1%

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.

ConsensusSOXELED
Forward P/E 19.1xFY2026 18.1xFY2026 18.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.85FY2026 $4.29FY2026 $6.36FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +12.8%FY2026 +12.9%FY2026 +11.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -3.1% +2.3% -2.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $31.53BFY2026 $16.60BFY2026 $16.77BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.7%FY2026 +13.1%FY2026 -0.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.8% +8.5% +6.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSOXELED
Held by institutions 72.5% 95.4% 76.0%
Institutions holding 2,363 1,284 1,431
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.7% +7.3% +6.7%
Institutions buying 1,248 663 755
Institutions selling 724 386 385
Buyers to sellers 1.72 1.72 1.96

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.

SOXELED
SO 1.00 0.78 0.77
XEL 0.78 1.00 0.68
ED 0.77 0.68 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SO, XEL and ED?

Southern (SO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Southern (SO) $106.48B, Xcel Energy (XEL) $48.62B, Consolidated Edison (ED) $42.69B.

Which stock is cheaper, SO, XEL and ED?

Consolidated Edison (ED) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Southern (SO) 22.6x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 21.8x, Consolidated Edison (ED) 21.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Xcel Energy (XEL) is cheapest (Southern (SO) 19.1x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 18.1x, Consolidated Edison (ED) 18.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Consolidated Edison (ED) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Southern (SO) +6.4%, Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.7%, Consolidated Edison (ED) +9.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Southern (SO) has the highest net margin (Southern (SO) 15.4%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 15.3%, Consolidated Edison (ED) 11.5%). On return on invested capital, Consolidated Edison (ED) leads (Southern (SO) 5.1%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 4.5%, Consolidated Edison (ED) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Consolidated Edison (ED) returned the most: Southern (SO) -3.5%, Xcel Energy (XEL) -3.1%, Consolidated Edison (ED) +15.4%. Over five years, Consolidated Edison (ED) compounded fastest (Southern (SO) +8.1%/yr, Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.2%/yr, Consolidated Edison (ED) +8.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Southern (SO) has the highest dividend yield: Southern (SO) 3.24%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 3.01%, Consolidated Edison (ED) 3.05%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Southern (SO) has been the steadiest (Southern (SO) 17.9%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 19.2%, Consolidated Edison (ED) 18.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SO, XEL and ED?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Consolidated Edison (ED) leads on 7. 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.