WEC vs AEP vs XEL Stock Comparison

Wec Energy, American Electric Power and Xcel Energy Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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WEC Wec Energy Group, Inc.
$114.60 +11.7% 1M +0.0% 1Y
Market cap
$37.91B
P/E
20.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.32B
Div. yield
–
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
2 wins
XEL Xcel Energy Inc
$79.04 +11.8% 1M -0.8% 1Y
Market cap
$50.62B
P/E
19.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.87B
Div. yield
–
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

American Electric Power leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (American Electric Power 6, Xcel Energy 3, Wec Energy 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionWECAEPXELLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $37.91B $71.35B $50.62B AEP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.9x 25.8x 19.0x XEL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.4x 21.5x 18.4x XEL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.1% +10.3% +4.5% AEP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 12.1% 17.9% XEL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 5.5% 5.0% AEP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 6.0x 6.0x AEP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.0% +5.9% -0.8% AEP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.9%/yr +8.8%/yr +4.1%/yr AEP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 16.8% 18.5% 19.3% WEC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 63/100 38/100 30/100 WEC

Percentile Scorecard

WECAEPXEL

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

AxisWECAEPXEL
Valuation 44 #38 of 67 23 #52 of 67 18 #55 of 67
Growth 48 #34 of 65 63 #25 of 65 50 #33 of 65
Profitability 94 #5 of 63 55 #29 of 63 48 #33 of 63
Financial Health – 28 #45 of 62 31 #43 of 62
Shareholder Returns 65 #24 of 67 24 #51 of 67 0 #67 of 67
Overall 63 38 30
  • WEC ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • AEP ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • XEL ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodWECAEPXELSPY
1 month +11.7%+8.4%+11.8% +0.7%
3 months +4.2%+1.2%+1.0% +3.7%
6 months -2.8%-5.7%-4.7% +7.1%
Year to date +8.7%+12.2%+7.0% +12.8%
1 year +0.0%+5.9%-0.8% +11.9%
3 years +40.4%+71.5%+34.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year +12.0%+19.7%+10.4% +22.8%
5 years +27.2%+52.7%+22.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year +4.9%+8.8%+4.1% +10.9%
10 years +95.8%+104.0%+94.3% +262.0%
10 years, per year +7.0%+7.4%+6.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureWECAEPXELSPY
Volatility, 1Y 16.8%18.5%19.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 15.9%19.3%19.5% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.15-0.07-0.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.000.32-0.04 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -29.4%-32.2%-37.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.6%-6.7%-5.8% -1.2%
52-week high $118.85$138.69$83.91 $779.14
52-week low $100.79$113.70$69.39 $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.

MultipleWECAEPXEL
P/E now vs peer median 20.6xmedian 20.5x 25.5xmedian 20.5x 18.6xmedian 20.5x
P/S now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 2.9x 3.1xmedian 2.9x 3.4xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.1x 14.0xmedian 13.1x 13.9xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -34.4xmedian 40.5x -12.2xmedian 40.5x -6.6xmedian 40.5x
P/B now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 1.7x 2.1xmedian 1.7x 2.0xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 2.47median 2.14 2.76median 2.14 1.82median 2.14

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 monthsWECAEPXEL
Revenue $10.32B $22.79B $14.87B
Gross profit – $15.43B –
Operating income $2.43B $5.24B $3.23B
Net income $1.81B $3.07B $2.67B
Free cash flow – -$5.75B -$7.62B
EPS (diluted) $5.50 $5.02 $4.22
Cash & equivalents $58.80M $375.00M $2.48B
Total debt – $52.84B $40.60B
Shares (diluted) 328.90M 550.63M 632.00M
Enterprise value $37.91B $68.52B $44.10B

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
MetricWECAEPXEL
P/E 20.6x 25.5x 18.6x
P/FCF -34.4x -12.2x -6.6x
P/Operating cash flow 9.7x 9.2x 9.9x
P/S 3.6x 3.1x 3.4x
P/B 2.6x 2.1x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 2.6x 2.1x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA – 14.0x 13.9x
EV/EBIT – 23.4x 27.3x
EV/Revenue 3.6x 5.4x 5.9x
EV/FCF – -21.3x -11.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 9.7x 15.9x 17.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.47 2.76 1.82

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWECAEPXEL
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.1% 10.3% 4.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.8% 5.4% 0.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 8.1% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 7.8% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 2.0% 2.2% 37.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 19.5% 9.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 7.2% -17.4% 39.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.9% 15.7% 15.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 5.7% 5.2% 31.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.4% 9.2% 10.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.5% 17.1% 11.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.8% 22.6% -0.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -63.5% -47.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -19.1% -159.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWECAEPXEL
Gross margin – 67.7% –
EBITDA margin – 38.4% 42.7%
Operating margin – 23.0% 21.7%
Pretax margin – 15.4% 16.8%
Net margin – 12.1% 17.9%
FCF margin – -25.2% -51.2%
Operating cash flow margin 37.2% 33.8% 34.1%
Return on equity 12.6% 9.6% 10.8%
Return on assets 3.4% 2.7% 3.0%
Return on invested capital – 5.5% 5.0%
Return on capital employed – 5.0% 4.1%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.2x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 2.5x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWECAEPXEL
Debt / assets – 43.5% 44.8%
Debt / equity – 1.6x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 6.0x 6.0x
Debt / FCF – -9.2x -5.3x
Liabilities / assets – 72.6% 71.9%
Equity / assets 27.0% 27.4% 28.1%
Interest coverage – 2.4x 1.9x
Current ratio 0.5x 0.5x 0.7x
Quick ratio – 0.3x 0.4x
Cash ratio – 0.0x 0.3x
Altman Z-score – 0.92 0.86

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWECAEPXEL
Dividend yield 3.3% 2.9% 3.0%
Net buyback yield – – -6.0%
Shareholder yield 3.3% 2.9% -3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusWECAEPXEL
Forward P/E 21.4xFY2026 21.5xFY2026 18.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.35FY2026 $6.01FY2026 $4.30FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.5%FY2026 +0.7%FY2026 +13.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% +19.0% +2.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.89BFY2026 $23.09BFY2026 $16.60BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.9%FY2026 +5.5%FY2026 +13.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.5% +3.5% +8.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWECAEPXEL
Held by institutions 85.3% 92.1% 95.4%
Institutions holding 1,395 1,986 1,286
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.1% +13.2% +7.3%
Institutions buying 705 1,065 665
Institutions selling 401 585 386
Buyers to sellers 1.76 1.82 1.72

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.

WECAEPXEL
WEC 1.00 0.78 0.82
AEP 0.78 1.00 0.78
XEL 0.82 0.78 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WEC, AEP and XEL?

American Electric Power (AEP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Wec Energy (WEC) $37.91B, American Electric Power (AEP) $71.35B, Xcel Energy (XEL) $50.62B.

Which stock is cheaper, WEC, AEP and XEL?

Xcel Energy (XEL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Wec Energy (WEC) 20.9x, American Electric Power (AEP) 25.8x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 19.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Xcel Energy (XEL) is cheapest (Wec Energy (WEC) 21.4x, American Electric Power (AEP) 21.5x, Xcel Energy (XEL) 18.4x). 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: Wec Energy (WEC) +8.1%, American Electric Power (AEP) +10.3%, Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Xcel Energy (XEL) has the highest net margin (American Electric Power (AEP) 12.1%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 17.9%). On return on invested capital, American Electric Power (AEP) leads (American Electric Power (AEP) 5.5%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 5.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Electric Power (AEP) returned the most: Wec Energy (WEC) +0.0%, American Electric Power (AEP) +5.9%, Xcel Energy (XEL) -0.8%. Over five years, American Electric Power (AEP) compounded fastest (Wec Energy (WEC) +4.9%/yr, American Electric Power (AEP) +8.8%/yr, Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Wec Energy (WEC) has been the steadiest (Wec Energy (WEC) 16.8%, American Electric Power (AEP) 18.5%, Xcel Energy (XEL) 19.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, WEC, AEP and XEL?

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 6. 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.