XEL vs. AEP, LNT, CMS, D, DTE, DUK, FE, NEE, NI, and WEC
Should you be buying Xcel Energy stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Xcel Energy include American Electric Power (AEP), Alliant Energy (LNT), CMS Energy (CMS), Dominion Energy (D), DTE Energy (DTE), Duke Energy (DUK), FirstEnergy (FE), NextEra Energy (NEE), NiSource (NI), and WEC Energy Group (WEC). These companies are all part of the "util - elec pwr" industry.
Xcel Energy vs. Its Competitors
Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) and American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.
In the previous week, American Electric Power had 7 more articles in the media than Xcel Energy. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for American Electric Power and 15 mentions for Xcel Energy. American Electric Power's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Xcel Energy's score of 1.41 indicating that American Electric Power is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
American Electric Power has a net margin of 17.68% compared to Xcel Energy's net margin of 14.85%. American Electric Power's return on equity of 11.55% beat Xcel Energy's return on equity.
78.4% of Xcel Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Xcel Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Xcel Energy presently has a consensus price target of $80.36, indicating a potential upside of 0.13%. American Electric Power has a consensus price target of $111.63, indicating a potential downside of 2.13%. Given Xcel Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Xcel Energy is more favorable than American Electric Power.
American Electric Power has higher revenue and earnings than Xcel Energy. American Electric Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Xcel Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Xcel Energy has a beta of 0.37, indicating that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Electric Power has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Xcel Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Xcel Energy pays out 63.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Electric Power pays out 54.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Xcel Energy has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years and American Electric Power has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. American Electric Power is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Summary
American Electric Power beats Xcel Energy on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding XEL and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Xcel Energy Competitors List
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This page (NASDAQ:XEL) was last updated on 10/5/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
