COMPARE · Reviewed August 1, 2026
AEP vs VST
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. AEP scored 65.7, VST scored 73.1 — VST leads.
Compare another set
AEP
American Electric Power Company, Inc.
65.7
$127.85 · $69.6B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
7.4
VST leads
VST
Vistra Corp.
73.1
$148.19 · $50.0B
fundamentals as of
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
AEP
stronger →← stronger
VST
60
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
64
73
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
89
65
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
69
VST is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
AEP
VST
$2.6bB
FCF
$1.8bC+
+8.2%B
Rev
+15.7%B+
1.61B
D/E
3.67D
22.2xC+
P/E
24.7xC
2.20C
PEG
0.41A
Winner per row is the stronger grade in our model; a tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
AEP
VST
64% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
63% above
~18%/yr
Growth the price implies10-yr FCF · lower = less priced in
~27%/yr
-43%
1-yr DCF upside
-52%
-39%
5-yr DCF upside
-39%
-33%
10-yr DCF upside
-13%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
The companies
AEPAmerican Electric Power Company, Inc.
Why now
Utilities - Regulated Electric · market cap $69.6b. 9% off the 52-week high of $140.58. 21 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $145.67 (implying +14% upside).
Moat
Net margin 17% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 12% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. $69.6b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
VSTVistra Corp.
Why now
Utilities - Independent Power Producers · market cap $50.0b. Down 33% from 52-week high of $219.82 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +16%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.41 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 18 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $221.94 (implying +50% upside).
Moat
Net margin 12% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 40% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which.
Risk
D/E 3.67 is elevated — limits strategic flexibility and raises refinancing exposure if rates stay higher for longer. Down 33% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. Beta 1.41 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.