VST vs XYL vs AEP Stock Comparison

Vistra, Xylem and American Electric Power Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (NRG) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
VST Vistra Corp.
$120.22 -17.0% 1M -35.3% 1Y
Market cap
$40.39B
P/E
20.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.21B
Div. yield
0.76%
Independent Power Producers Utilities
3 wins
XYL Xylem Inc.
$101.04 -1.4% 1M -32.5% 1Y
Market cap
$23.17B
P/E
21.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.06B
Div. yield
1.67%
Water Treatment Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

American Electric Power leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (American Electric Power 7, Vistra 3, Xylem 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionVSTXYLAEPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $40.39B $23.17B $70.37B AEP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.0x 21.7x 18.6x AEP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.6x 19.2x 21.5x VST
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.8% +1.9% +11.1% AEP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.6% 11.9% 16.1% AEP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.3% 8.3% 5.8% VST
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.8x 1.1x 5.8x XYL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.76% 1.67% 2.94% AEP
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -35.3% -32.5% +7.4% AEP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +42.5%/yr -5.1%/yr +8.7%/yr VST
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 52.5% 31.4% 18.5% AEP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 77/100 53/100 XYL

Percentile Scorecard

VSTXYLAEP

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

AxisVSTXYLAEP
Valuation 74 #7 of 24 90 #3 of 20 39 #41 of 67
Growth 55 #11 of 23 88 #3 of 18 94 #5 of 65
Profitability 100 #1 of 22 69 #6 of 17 53 #31 of 65
Financial Health 30 #17 of 24 50 #11 of 21 29 #47 of 66
Shareholder Returns 71 #6 of 18 91 #2 of 12 50 #34 of 67
Overall 66 77 53
  • VST ranked among 24 companies in Power Generation
  • XYL ranked among 21 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • 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

PeriodVSTXYLAEPSPY
1 month -17.0%-1.4%+7.9% -1.0%
3 months -14.5%-17.3%+2.2% -0.4%
6 months -24.1%-14.8%-2.5% +4.5%
Year to date -25.5%-25.8%+12.1% +12.4%
1 year -35.3%-32.5%+7.4% +13.6%
3 years +243.6%+4.2%+62.1% +76.4%
3 years, per year +50.9%+1.4%+17.5% +20.8%
5 years +486.4%-22.9%+52.0% +63.7%
5 years, per year +42.5%-5.1%+8.7% +10.4%
10 years +758.7%+113.2%+107.1% +267.7%
10 years, per year +24.0%+7.9%+7.6% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureVSTXYLAEPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 52.5%31.4%18.5% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 58.2%36.5%19.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.400.66-0.08 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.67-1.030.40 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.9%-45.4%-32.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -37.1%-33.2%-6.8% -1.6%
52-week high $191.00$151.31$138.69 $779.14
52-week low $120.22$88.24$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.

MultipleVSTXYLAEP
P/E now vs peer median 20.0xmedian 22.5x 21.7xmedian 28.5x 18.6xmedian 21.2x
P/S now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.6x 2.6xmedian 2.6x 3.0xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.2xmedian 11.0x 13.1xmedian 21.7x 13.5xmedian 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.9xmedian 13.5x 25.2xmedian 25.6x -8.6xmedian 33.4x
P/B now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 2.1x 2.3xmedian 2.0x 2.1xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 1.26median 0.66 0.69median 1.79 1.11median 2.06

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 monthsVSTXYLAEP
Revenue $19.21B $9.06B $23.61B
Gross profit – $3.61B $16.15B
Operating income $3.56B $1.37B $5.53B
Net income $2.22B $1.08B $4.42B
Free cash flow $2.26B $921.00M -$8.17B
R&D – $231.00M –
EPS (diluted) $5.98 $4.64 $6.89
Cash & equivalents $435.00M $708.00M $418.00M
Total debt $19.60B $2.90B $54.42B
Shares (diluted) 339.23M 233.04M 550.10M
Enterprise value $33.59B $19.14B $69.44B

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
MetricVSTXYLAEP
P/E 20.0x 21.7x 18.6x
P/FCF 17.9x 25.2x -8.6x
P/Operating cash flow 7.9x 18.2x 9.3x
P/S 2.1x 2.6x 3.0x
P/B 7.4x 2.3x 2.1x
P/Tangible book 12.6x 2.9x 2.1x
EV/EBITDA 9.2x 13.1x 13.5x
EV/EBIT 16.3x 18.5x 22.4x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 2.8x 5.3x
EV/FCF 25.8x 27.5x -15.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.3x 19.9x 16.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.26 0.69 1.11

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVSTXYLAEP
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.8% 1.9% 11.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 10.3% 7.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 6.0% 11.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 12.5% 9.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.5% 20.7% 4.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 29.1% 16.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -8.9% 14.1% 30.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 11.4% 30.0% 25.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -6.0% 19.6% 66.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 15.9% 31.7% 16.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.2% -0.1% 10.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.7% 19.6% 21.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.4% -0.4% -123.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.7% 21.9% -33.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVSTXYLAEP
Gross margin – 39.8% 68.4%
EBITDA margin 33.0% 21.3% 38.9%
Operating margin 18.5% 15.1% 23.4%
Pretax margin 14.6% 14.8% 15.7%
Net margin 10.6% 11.9% 16.1%
FCF margin 11.7% 10.2% -34.6%
Operating cash flow margin 26.7% 14.0% 32.1%
Return on equity 40.0% 10.3% 10.2%
Return on assets 5.3% 6.2% 2.8%
Return on invested capital 11.3% 8.3% 5.8%
Return on capital employed 11.3% 9.5% 5.1%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 1.2x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVSTXYLAEP
Debt / assets 46.0% 16.7% 43.3%
Debt / equity 3.6x 0.3x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.8x 1.1x 5.8x
Debt / FCF 8.7x 3.1x -6.7x
Liabilities / assets 87.1% 40.7% 72.9%
Equity / assets 12.9% 59.3% 27.1%
Interest coverage 3.1x 36.1x 2.4x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.4x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.9x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 1.41 3.17 0.91

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVSTXYLAEP
Dividend yield 0.8% 1.7% 2.9%
Net buyback yield 2.8% 6.8% –
Shareholder yield 3.6% 8.4% 2.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 13.9% 37.4% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 13.7% 44.0% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.3% 6.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 0.5% 14.1% –

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.

ConsensusVSTXYLAEP
Forward P/E 13.6xFY2026 19.2xFY2026 21.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.83FY2026 $5.26FY2026 $6.01FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +305.0%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026 +0.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.0% +13.7% +19.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $21.29BFY2026 $9.81BFY2026 $23.09BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +20.0%FY2026 +8.5%FY2026 +5.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +20.7% +0.4% +3.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVSTXYLAEP
Held by institutions 84.4% 92.0% 92.1%
Institutions holding 1,405 1,094 1,987
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +0.2% +13.2%
Institutions buying 854 490 1,065
Institutions selling 415 447 586
Buyers to sellers 2.06 1.10 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.

VSTXYLAEP
VST 1.00 0.01 0.21
XYL 0.01 1.00 0.16
AEP 0.21 0.16 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VST, XYL and AEP?

American Electric Power (AEP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Vistra (VST) $40.39B, Xylem (XYL) $23.17B, American Electric Power (AEP) $70.37B.

Which stock is cheaper, VST, XYL and AEP?

American Electric Power (AEP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Vistra (VST) 20.0x, Xylem (XYL) 21.7x, American Electric Power (AEP) 18.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Vistra (VST) is cheapest (Vistra (VST) 13.6x, Xylem (XYL) 19.2x, 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?

American Electric Power (AEP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Vistra (VST) +3.8%, Xylem (XYL) +1.9%, American Electric Power (AEP) +11.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Electric Power (AEP) has the highest net margin (Vistra (VST) 10.6%, Xylem (XYL) 11.9%, American Electric Power (AEP) 16.1%). On return on invested capital, Vistra (VST) leads (Vistra (VST) 11.3%, Xylem (XYL) 8.3%, American Electric Power (AEP) 5.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Electric Power (AEP) returned the most: Vistra (VST) -35.3%, Xylem (XYL) -32.5%, American Electric Power (AEP) +7.4%. Over five years, Vistra (VST) compounded fastest (Vistra (VST) +42.5%/yr, Xylem (XYL) -5.1%/yr, American Electric Power (AEP) +8.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

American Electric Power (AEP) has the highest dividend yield: Vistra (VST) 0.76%, Xylem (XYL) 1.67%, American Electric Power (AEP) 2.94%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, American Electric Power (AEP) has been the steadiest (Vistra (VST) 52.5%, Xylem (XYL) 31.4%, American Electric Power (AEP) 18.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, VST, XYL 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, American Electric Power (AEP) 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.