VST vs CEG vs AEP Stock Comparison

Vistra, Constellation Energy and American Electric Power Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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VST Vistra Corp.
$141.77 +2.4% 1M -29.6% 1Y
Market cap
$49.42B
P/E
24.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.21B
Div. yield
0.01%
Independent Power Producers Utilities
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionVSTCEGAEPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $49.42B $93.25B $70.85B CEG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.4x 26.9x 25.7x VST
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.1x 20.4x 21.5x VST
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.8% +26.0% +10.3% CEG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.6% 11.1% 12.1% AEP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.3% 5.5% 5.5% VST
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.8x 2.9x 6.0x VST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -29.6% -35.1% +11.4% AEP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +48.5%/yr — +8.9%/yr VST
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 50.9% 48.6% 19.4% AEP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 69/100 41/100 CEG

Percentile Scorecard

VSTCEGAEP

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

AxisVSTCEGAEP
Valuation 74 #7 of 24 57 #11 of 24 23 #52 of 67
Growth 55 #11 of 23 96 #2 of 23 64 #24 of 65
Profitability 100 #1 of 23 86 #4 of 23 59 #27 of 64
Financial Health 39 #15 of 24 48 #13 of 24 29 #46 of 64
Shareholder Returns 74 #6 of 20 58 #9 of 20 30 #47 of 67
Overall 68 69 41
  • VST ranked among 24 companies in Power Generation
  • CEG ranked among 24 companies in Power Generation
  • AEP ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodVSTCEGAEPSPY
1 month +2.4%-4.1%+9.2% -0.8%
3 months -9.8%-6.5%-3.3% +3.5%
6 months -14.9%-19.9%-4.3% +7.0%
Year to date -12.1%-28.5%+12.1% +12.2%
1 year -29.6%-35.1%+11.4% +13.0%
3 years +342.8%+127.9%+72.5% +86.3%
3 years, per year +64.3%+31.6%+19.9% +23.1%
5 years +621.1%—+53.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +48.5%—+8.9% +11.0%
10 years +817.6%—+103.4% +258.0%
10 years, per year +24.8%—+7.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureVSTCEGAEPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 50.9%48.6%19.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 55.2%50.1%19.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.591.44-0.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.58-0.720.59 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.9%-50.8%-32.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -28.9%-37.1%-6.8% -1.8%
52-week high $199.37$401.43$138.69 $779.14
52-week low $134.71$236.50$113.70 $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.

MultipleVSTCEGAEP
P/E now vs peer median 23.6xmedian 24.4x 26.2xmedian 24.4x 25.5xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 2.7x 2.9xmedian 2.7x 3.1xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.3xmedian 11.3x 13.7xmedian 11.3x 14.0xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.1xmedian 12.9x 290.1xmedian 12.9x -12.2xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 8.7xmedian 2.1x 2.8xmedian 2.1x 2.1xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.48median 0.59 0.44median 0.59 2.76median 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 monthsVSTCEGAEP
Revenue $19.21B $31.27B $22.79B
Gross profit – – $15.43B
Operating income $3.56B $4.60B $5.24B
Net income $2.22B $3.48B $3.07B
Free cash flow $2.26B $309.00M -$5.75B
EPS (diluted) $5.98 $9.63 $5.02
Cash & equivalents $435.00M $697.00M $375.00M
Total debt $19.60B $24.70B $52.84B
Shares (diluted) 339.23M 360.00M 550.63M
Enterprise value $42.60B $84.15B $68.02B

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
MetricVSTCEGAEP
P/E 23.6x 26.2x 25.5x
P/FCF 21.1x 290.1x -12.2x
P/Operating cash flow 9.3x 21.3x 9.1x
P/S 2.5x 2.9x 3.1x
P/B 8.7x 2.8x 2.1x
P/Tangible book 14.8x 2.8x 2.1x
EV/EBITDA 10.3x 13.7x 14.0x
EV/EBIT 18.3x 24.7x 23.4x
EV/Revenue 3.4x 3.6x 5.4x
EV/FCF 29.0x 367.7x -21.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.8x 27.0x 15.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.48 0.44 2.76

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVSTCEGAEP
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.8% 26.0% 10.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 5.8% 5.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 8.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 7.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.5% 19.7% 2.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 111.3% 19.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -8.9% 15.2% -17.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 11.4% 66.0% 15.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -6.0% 0.4% 5.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 15.9% 59.2% 9.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.2% 822.4% 17.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.7% 42.4% 22.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.4% 112.9% -63.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.7% 26.9% -19.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVSTCEGAEP
Gross margin – – 67.7%
EBITDA margin 33.0% 26.4% 38.4%
Operating margin 18.5% 14.7% 23.0%
Pretax margin 14.6% 16.3% 15.4%
Net margin 10.6% 11.1% 12.1%
FCF margin 11.7% 1.0% -25.2%
Operating cash flow margin 26.7% 13.5% 33.8%
Return on equity 40.0% 10.6% 9.6%
Return on assets 5.3% 3.6% 2.7%
Return on invested capital 11.3% 5.5% 5.5%
Return on capital employed 11.3% 5.4% 5.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.3x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 1.2x 2.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVSTCEGAEP
Debt / assets 46.0% 25.1% 43.5%
Debt / equity 3.6x 0.8x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.8x 2.9x 6.0x
Debt / FCF 8.7x 79.9x -9.2x
Liabilities / assets 87.1% 67.5% 72.6%
Equity / assets 12.9% 32.5% 27.4%
Interest coverage 3.1x 5.9x 2.4x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.5x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.6x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 1.52 1.47 0.92

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVSTCEGAEP
Dividend yield 0.6% 0.7% 2.9%
Net buyback yield 2.4% – –
Shareholder yield 3.1% 0.7% 2.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 13.9% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 13.7% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.3% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 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.

ConsensusVSTCEGAEP
Forward P/E 16.1xFY2026 20.4xFY2026 21.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.83FY2026 $12.40FY2026 $6.01FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +305.0%FY2026 +32.1%FY2026 +0.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.0% +12.1% +19.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $21.29BFY2026 $31.54BFY2026 $23.09BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +20.0%FY2026 +23.5%FY2026 +5.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +20.7% +7.0% +3.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVSTCEGAEP
Held by institutions 84.4% 79.8% 92.1%
Institutions holding 1,403 1,843 1,984
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +2.9% +13.2%
Institutions buying 852 1,002 1,064
Institutions selling 415 579 584
Buyers to sellers 2.05 1.73 1.82

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.

VSTCEGAEP
VST 1.00 0.81 0.22
CEG 0.81 1.00 0.25
AEP 0.22 0.25 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VST, CEG and AEP?

Constellation Energy (CEG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Vistra (VST) $49.42B, Constellation Energy (CEG) $93.25B, American Electric Power (AEP) $70.85B.

Which stock is cheaper, VST, CEG and AEP?

Vistra (VST) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Vistra (VST) 24.4x, Constellation Energy (CEG) 26.9x, American Electric Power (AEP) 25.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Vistra (VST) is cheapest (Vistra (VST) 16.1x, Constellation Energy (CEG) 20.4x, American Electric Power (AEP) 21.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Constellation Energy (CEG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Vistra (VST) +3.8%, Constellation Energy (CEG) +26.0%, American Electric Power (AEP) +10.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Electric Power (AEP) has the highest net margin (Vistra (VST) 10.6%, Constellation Energy (CEG) 11.1%, American Electric Power (AEP) 12.1%). On return on invested capital, Vistra (VST) leads (Vistra (VST) 11.3%, Constellation Energy (CEG) 5.5%, American Electric Power (AEP) 5.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Electric Power (AEP) returned the most: Vistra (VST) -29.6%, Constellation Energy (CEG) -35.1%, American Electric Power (AEP) +11.4%. Over five years, Vistra (VST) compounded fastest (Vistra (VST) +48.5%/yr, American Electric Power (AEP) +8.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Vistra (VST) 0.01%, Constellation Energy (CEG) 0.00%, American Electric Power (AEP) 0.00%. Constellation Energy (CEG) and 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) 50.9%, Constellation Energy (CEG) 48.6%, American Electric Power (AEP) 19.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.