VST vs AEP vs NRG Stock Comparison

Vistra, American Electric Power and Nrg Energy Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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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
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

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.

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

Percentile Scorecard

VSTAEPNRG

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

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

Price Performance

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

Returns

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

Risk

MeasureVSTAEPNRGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 51.0%19.4%50.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 55.0%19.2%55.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.59-0.071.41 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.520.60-0.87 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.9%-32.2%-49.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -30.4%-6.5%-49.8% -2.5%
52-week high $201.47$138.69$184.03 $779.14
52-week low $134.71$113.70$92.32 $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.

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

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

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

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

Shareholder Returns

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

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.

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

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

VSTAEPNRG
VST 1.00 0.22 0.78
AEP 0.22 1.00 0.29
NRG 0.78 0.29 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VST, AEP and NRG?

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

Which stock is cheaper, VST, AEP and NRG?

Vistra (VST) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Vistra (VST) 23.6x, American Electric Power (AEP) 25.5x, Nrg Energy (NRG) 25.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nrg Energy (NRG) is cheapest (Vistra (VST) 15.9x, American Electric Power (AEP) 21.7x, Nrg Energy (NRG) 10.8x). 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: Vistra (VST) +3.8%, American Electric Power (AEP) +10.3%, Nrg Energy (NRG) +12.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

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

Which pays a higher dividend?

Nrg Energy (NRG) has the highest dividend yield: Vistra (VST) 0.01%, American Electric Power (AEP) 0.00%, Nrg Energy (NRG) 0.02%. 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 (Vistra (VST) 51.0%, American Electric Power (AEP) 19.4%, Nrg Energy (NRG) 50.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.