XEL vs NGG vs AEP Stock Comparison

Xcel Energy, National Grid and American Electric Power Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
XEL Xcel Energy Inc
$78.05 +10.5% 1M -2.9% 1Y
Market cap
$48.66B
P/E
21.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.62B
Div. yield
–
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
2 wins
NGG National Grid Plc
$81.87 +8.8% 1M +6.7% 1Y
Market cap
$80.86B
P/E
18.6x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

American Electric Power leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (American Electric Power 5, National Grid 4, Xcel Energy 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionXELNGGAEPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $48.66B $80.86B $70.33B NGG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.8x 18.6x 25.5x NGG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.2x 14.0x 21.7x NGG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.7% — +10.3% AEP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.3% — 12.1% XEL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 4.5% — 5.5% AEP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 6.4x — 6.0x AEP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.9% +6.7% +11.6% AEP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.6%/yr +5.4%/yr +8.7%/yr AEP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 19.2% 22.4% 19.4% XEL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 16/100 73/100 40/100 NGG

Percentile Scorecard

XELNGGAEP

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

AxisXELNGGAEP
Valuation 5 #64 of 67 52 #33 of 67 23 #52 of 67
Growth 14 #56 of 65 – 64 #24 of 65
Profitability 28 #47 of 65 – 58 #28 of 65
Financial Health 32 #45 of 66 79 #15 of 66 26 #49 of 66
Shareholder Returns 0 #67 of 67 89 #8 of 67 27 #49 of 67
Overall 16 73 40
  • XEL ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • NGG ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • 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

PeriodXELNGGAEPSPY
1 month +10.5%+8.8%+9.5% -1.0%
3 months -4.4%-0.5%-4.3% +2.9%
6 months -1.4%-6.3%-3.7% +6.4%
Year to date +5.7%+5.8%+12.5% +11.4%
1 year -2.9%+6.7%+11.6% +13.1%
3 years +32.1%+37.0%+73.5% +79.4%
3 years, per year +9.7%+11.1%+20.2% +21.5%
5 years +19.1%+30.3%+51.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.6%+5.4%+8.7% +10.9%
10 years +95.4%+14.7%+107.6% +255.2%
10 years, per year +6.9%+1.4%+7.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureXELNGGAEPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 19.2%22.4%19.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.4%24.3%19.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.020.31-0.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.150.300.60 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -37.4%-40.9%-32.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.0%-12.8%-6.5% -2.5%
52-week high $83.91$93.93$138.69 $779.14
52-week low $69.39$73.54$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.

MultipleXELNGGAEP
P/E now vs peer median 21.8xmedian 20.8x 18.6xmedian 20.8x 25.6xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 2.8x 3.6xmedian 2.8x 3.1xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.8xmedian 13.1x —median 13.1x 14.0xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -6.3xmedian 36.7x -29.4xmedian 36.7x -12.3xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 1.7x 1.6xmedian 1.7x 2.1xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 5.11median 2.27 —median 2.27 2.77median 2.27

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 monthsXELNGGAEP
Revenue $14.62B – $22.79B
Gross profit – – $15.43B
Operating income $2.79B – $5.24B
Net income $2.23B – $3.07B
Free cash flow -$7.69B – -$5.75B
EPS (diluted) $3.56 – $5.02
Cash & equivalents $2.01B $493.98M $375.00M
Total debt $39.46B $61.59B $52.84B
Shares (diluted) 627.00M 994.20M 550.63M
Enterprise value $43.57B $53.16B $67.50B

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
MetricXELNGGAEP
P/E 21.8x 18.6x 25.6x
P/FCF -6.3x -29.4x -12.3x
P/Operating cash flow 10.2x – 9.2x
P/S 3.3x 3.6x 3.1x
P/B 2.0x 1.6x 2.1x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 1.8x 2.1x
EV/EBITDA 14.8x – 14.0x
EV/EBIT 30.9x – 23.4x
EV/Revenue 5.9x – 5.4x
EV/FCF -11.2x – -21.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.1x – 16.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 5.11 – 2.77

Growth

14 metrics
MetricXELNGGAEP
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.7% – 10.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.4% – 5.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 8.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 7.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.0% – 2.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 4.6% – 19.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 7.7% – -17.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.8% – 15.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 1.0% – 5.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 4.3% – 9.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 5.8% – 17.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.7% – 22.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -97.2% – -63.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -112.8% – -19.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricXELNGGAEP
Gross margin – – 67.7%
EBITDA margin 39.9% – 38.4%
Operating margin 19.1% – 23.0%
Pretax margin 13.7% – 15.4%
Net margin 15.3% – 12.1%
FCF margin -52.6% – -25.2%
Operating cash flow margin 32.6% – 33.8%
Return on equity 9.3% – 9.6%
Return on assets 2.6% – 2.7%
Return on invested capital 4.5% – 5.5%
Return on capital employed 3.6% – 5.0%
Asset turnover 0.2x – 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x – 2.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricXELNGGAEP
Debt / assets 45.3% 43.2% 43.5%
Debt / equity 1.6x 1.2x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 6.4x – 6.0x
Debt / FCF -5.1x – -9.2x
Liabilities / assets 72.4% 63.7% 72.6%
Equity / assets 27.6% 36.3% 27.4%
Interest coverage 1.7x – 2.4x
Current ratio 0.7x 0.8x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.7x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 0.86 – 0.92

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricXELNGGAEP
Dividend yield 3.0% 4.0% 2.9%
Net buyback yield -4.5% – –
Shareholder yield -1.6% 4.0% 2.9%
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.

ConsensusXELNGGAEP
Forward P/E 18.2xFY2026 14.0xFY2026 21.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.29FY2026 $5.84FY2026 $5.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +12.9%FY2026 +11.0%FY2026 +0.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +2.3% +9.2% +19.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.57BFY2026 $25.23BFY2026 $23.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.9%FY2026 +5.8%FY2026 +5.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.7% +8.0% +3.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersXELNGGAEP
Held by institutions 95.4% 6.2% 92.1%
Institutions holding 1,284 617 1,984
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.3% +6.6% +13.2%
Institutions buying 663 352 1,064
Institutions selling 386 159 584
Buyers to sellers 1.72 2.21 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.

XELNGGAEP
XEL 1.00 0.52 0.74
NGG 0.52 1.00 0.51
AEP 0.74 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, XEL, NGG and AEP?

National Grid (NGG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Xcel Energy (XEL) $48.66B, National Grid (NGG) $80.86B, American Electric Power (AEP) $70.33B.

Which stock is cheaper, XEL, NGG and AEP?

National Grid (NGG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Xcel Energy (XEL) 21.8x, National Grid (NGG) 18.6x, American Electric Power (AEP) 25.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, National Grid (NGG) is cheapest (Xcel Energy (XEL) 18.2x, National Grid (NGG) 14.0x, American Electric Power (AEP) 21.7x). 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: Xcel Energy (XEL) +4.7%, American Electric Power (AEP) +10.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Xcel Energy (XEL) has the highest net margin (Xcel Energy (XEL) 15.3%, American Electric Power (AEP) 12.1%). On return on invested capital, American Electric Power (AEP) leads (Xcel Energy (XEL) 4.5%, American Electric Power (AEP) 5.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Electric Power (AEP) returned the most: Xcel Energy (XEL) -2.9%, National Grid (NGG) +6.7%, American Electric Power (AEP) +11.6%. Over five years, American Electric Power (AEP) compounded fastest (Xcel Energy (XEL) +3.6%/yr, National Grid (NGG) +5.4%/yr, American Electric Power (AEP) +8.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Xcel Energy (XEL) has been the steadiest (Xcel Energy (XEL) 19.2%, National Grid (NGG) 22.4%, American Electric Power (AEP) 19.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, XEL, NGG 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 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.