WEC Energy Group (WEC) Competitors

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) and American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, WEC or AEP?

American Electric Power has higher revenue and earnings than WEC Energy Group. American Electric Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WEC Energy Group, 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
WEC Energy Group	$9.31B	3.75	$1.53B	$5.22	20.77
American Electric Power	$20.67B	2.95	$2.97B	$6.84	16.67

Do institutionals & insiders believe in WEC or AEP?

77.2% of WEC Energy Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of WEC Energy Group 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 will outperform the market over the long term.

Is WEC or AEP more profitable?

WEC Energy Group has a net margin of 17.87% compared to American Electric Power's net margin of 17.68%. WEC Energy Group's return on equity of 12.90% beat American Electric Power's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WEC Energy Group	17.87%	12.90%	3.55%
American Electric Power	17.68%	11.55%	3.11%

Which has more volatility & risk, WEC or AEP?

WEC Energy Group has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Electric Power has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer WEC or AEP?

In the previous week, American Electric Power had 13 more articles in the media than WEC Energy Group. MarketBeat recorded 37 mentions for American Electric Power and 24 mentions for WEC Energy Group. WEC Energy Group's average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat American Electric Power's score of 1.48 indicating that WEC Energy Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
WEC Energy Group	16 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Electric Power	28 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer WEC or AEP?

WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus target price of $106.40, suggesting a potential downside of 1.87%. American Electric Power has a consensus target price of $111.29, suggesting a potential downside of 2.40%. Given WEC Energy Group's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WEC Energy Group is more favorable than American Electric Power.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WEC Energy Group	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
American Electric Power	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Is WEC or AEP a better dividend stock?

WEC Energy Group pays an annual dividend of $3.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. WEC Energy Group pays out 68.4% 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. WEC Energy Group has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years and American Electric Power has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. WEC Energy Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

WEC Energy Group beats American Electric Power on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.