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
American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) and Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.
American Electric Power has higher revenue and earnings than Xcel Energy. Xcel Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Electric Power, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
American Electric Power has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xcel Energy has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.
75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of Xcel Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Xcel Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Xcel Energy has a net margin of 14.10% compared to American Electric Power's net margin of 13.73%. American Electric Power's return on equity of 11.68% beat Xcel Energy's return on equity.
In the previous week, American Electric Power had 12 more articles in the media than Xcel Energy. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for American Electric Power and 18 mentions for Xcel Energy. Xcel Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.34 beat American Electric Power's score of 1.30 indicating that Xcel Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
American Electric Power currently has a consensus price target of $108.31, suggesting a potential upside of 4.18%. Xcel Energy has a consensus price target of $75.80, suggesting a potential upside of 12.20%. 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 pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Xcel Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. American Electric Power pays out 71.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Xcel Energy pays out 67.1% 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. American Electric Power has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Xcel Energy has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years.
Summary
Xcel Energy beats American Electric Power on 10 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 7/9/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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