Xcel Energy (XEL) Competitors

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) and Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, profitability, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, XEL or PEG?

Public Service Enterprise Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Xcel Energy. Xcel Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Public Service Enterprise 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
Xcel Energy	$13.76B	2.90	$1.77B	$3.37	20.61
Public Service Enterprise Group	$10.43B	4.25	$2.56B	$4.07	21.86

Is XEL or PEG more profitable?

Public Service Enterprise Group has a net margin of 19.48% compared to Xcel Energy's net margin of 13.67%. Xcel Energy's return on equity of 10.76% beat Public Service Enterprise Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xcel Energy	13.67%	10.76%	2.93%
Public Service Enterprise Group	19.48%	10.70%	3.22%

Is XEL or PEG a better dividend stock?

Xcel Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Public Service Enterprise Group pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Xcel Energy pays out 65.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Public Service Enterprise Group pays out 59.0% 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 21 consecutive years and Public Service Enterprise Group has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Xcel Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of XEL or PEG?

78.4% of Xcel Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.3% of Public Service Enterprise Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Xcel Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Public Service Enterprise Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor XEL or PEG?

Public Service Enterprise Group received 488 more outperform votes than Xcel Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 56.96% of users gave Public Service Enterprise Group an outperform vote while only 30.30% of users gave Xcel Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Xcel Energy	Outperform Votes 40 30.30%	Underperform Votes 92 69.70%
Public Service Enterprise Group	Outperform Votes 528 56.96%	Underperform Votes 399 43.04%

Does the media refer more to XEL or PEG?

In the previous week, Xcel Energy had 2 more articles in the media than Public Service Enterprise Group. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for Xcel Energy and 15 mentions for Public Service Enterprise Group. Xcel Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.51 beat Public Service Enterprise Group's score of 1.15 indicating that Xcel Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Xcel Energy	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Public Service Enterprise Group	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, XEL or PEG?

Xcel Energy has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Public Service Enterprise Group has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend XEL or PEG?

Xcel Energy presently has a consensus price target of $66.38, indicating a potential downside of 4.43%. Public Service Enterprise Group has a consensus price target of $86.69, indicating a potential downside of 2.58%. Given Public Service Enterprise Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Public Service Enterprise Group is more favorable than Xcel Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xcel Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54
Public Service Enterprise Group	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.79

Summary

Public Service Enterprise Group beats Xcel Energy on 15 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.