Talen Energy (TLN) Competitors

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) and Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, community ranking, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and media sentiment.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in XEL or TLN?

78.4% of Xcel Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.4% of Talen Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Xcel Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Talen Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better valuation & earnings, XEL or TLN?

Xcel Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Talen Energy. Xcel Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Talen Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Xcel Energy	$13.70B	3.06	$1.94B	$3.40	21.35
Talen Energy	$2.09B	5.25	$613M	$9.63	25.01

Do analysts rate XEL or TLN?

Xcel Energy presently has a consensus target price of $76.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.70%. Talen Energy has a consensus target price of $240.18, suggesting a potential downside of 0.29%. Given Xcel Energy's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Xcel Energy is more favorable than Talen Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xcel Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
Talen Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media prefer XEL or TLN?

In the previous week, Xcel Energy had 22 more articles in the media than Talen Energy. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for Xcel Energy and 23 mentions for Talen Energy. Talen Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.74 beat Xcel Energy's score of 1.46 indicating that Talen Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Xcel Energy	31 Very Positive mention(s)	8 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Talen Energy	22 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer XEL or TLN?

Talen Energy received 171 more outperform votes than Xcel Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.40% of users gave Talen Energy an outperform vote while only 32.45% of users gave Xcel Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Xcel Energy	Outperform Votes 49 32.45%	Underperform Votes 102 67.55%
Talen Energy	Outperform Votes 220 63.40%	Underperform Votes 127 36.60%

Is XEL or TLN more profitable?

Talen Energy has a net margin of 50.48% compared to Xcel Energy's net margin of 14.40%. Xcel Energy's return on equity of 10.65% beat Talen Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xcel Energy	14.40%	10.65%	2.90%
Talen Energy	50.48%	8.59%	3.13%

Which has more volatility and risk, XEL or TLN?

Xcel Energy has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Talen Energy has a beta of 1.9, meaning that its stock price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Talen Energy beats Xcel Energy on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.