XEL vs NGG Stock Comparison

Xcel Energy and National Grid 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
1 win
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
6 wins

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

National Grid leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (National Grid 6, Xcel Energy 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

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

Percentile Scorecard

XELNGG

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

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

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodXELNGGSPY
1 month +10.5%+8.8% -1.0%
3 months -4.4%-0.5% +2.9%
6 months -1.4%-6.3% +6.4%
Year to date +5.7%+5.8% +11.4%
1 year -2.9%+6.7% +13.1%
3 years +32.1%+37.0% +79.4%
3 years, per year +9.7%+11.1% +21.5%
5 years +19.1%+30.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.6%+5.4% +10.9%
10 years +95.4%+14.7% +255.2%
10 years, per year +6.9%+1.4% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureXELNGGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 19.2%22.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.4%24.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.020.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.150.30 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -37.4%-40.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.0%-12.8% -2.5%
52-week high $83.91$93.93 $779.14
52-week low $69.39$73.54 $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.

MultipleXELNGG
P/E now vs peer median 21.8xmedian 20.8x 18.6xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 2.8x 3.6xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.8xmedian 13.1x —median 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -6.3xmedian 36.7x -29.4xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 1.7x 1.6xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 5.11median 2.27 —median 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 monthsXELNGG
Revenue $14.62B –
Operating income $2.79B –
Net income $2.23B –
Free cash flow -$7.69B –
EPS (diluted) $3.56 –
Cash & equivalents $2.01B $493.98M
Total debt $39.46B $61.59B
Shares (diluted) 627.00M 994.20M
Enterprise value $43.57B $53.16B

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
MetricXELNGG
P/E 21.8x 18.6x
P/FCF -6.3x -29.4x
P/Operating cash flow 10.2x –
P/S 3.3x 3.6x
P/B 2.0x 1.6x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 1.8x
EV/EBITDA 14.8x –
EV/EBIT 30.9x –
EV/Revenue 5.9x –
EV/FCF -11.2x –
EV/Operating cash flow 18.1x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 5.11 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricXELNGG
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.7% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.4% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.0% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 4.6% –
Net income growth (1Y) 7.7% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.8% –
EPS growth (1Y) 1.0% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 4.3% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 5.8% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.7% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -97.2% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -112.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricXELNGG
Gross margin – –
EBITDA margin 39.9% –
Operating margin 19.1% –
Pretax margin 13.7% –
Net margin 15.3% –
FCF margin -52.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 32.6% –
Return on equity 9.3% –
Return on assets 2.6% –
Return on invested capital 4.5% –
Return on capital employed 3.6% –
Asset turnover 0.2x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricXELNGG
Debt / assets 45.3% 43.2%
Debt / equity 1.6x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 6.4x –
Debt / FCF -5.1x –
Liabilities / assets 72.4% 63.7%
Equity / assets 27.6% 36.3%
Interest coverage 1.7x –
Current ratio 0.7x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 0.86 –

Shareholder Returns

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

ConsensusXELNGG
Forward P/E 18.2xFY2026 14.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.29FY2026 $5.84FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +12.9%FY2026 +11.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +2.3% +9.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.57BFY2026 $25.23BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.9%FY2026 +5.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.7% +8.0%

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

XELNGG
XEL 1.00 0.52
NGG 0.52 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, XEL and NGG?

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

Which stock is cheaper, XEL and NGG?

National Grid (NGG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Xcel Energy (XEL) 21.8x, National Grid (NGG) 18.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, National Grid (NGG) is cheapest (Xcel Energy (XEL) 18.2x, National Grid (NGG) 14.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year National Grid (NGG) returned the most: Xcel Energy (XEL) -2.9%, National Grid (NGG) +6.7%. Over five years, National Grid (NGG) compounded fastest (Xcel Energy (XEL) +3.6%/yr, National Grid (NGG) +5.4%/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%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do XEL and NGG move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.52, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, XEL and NGG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, National Grid (NGG) 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.