Sifting through countless of stocks in the Electric Utilities industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc.

Otter Tail Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in electric utility, manufacturing, and plastic pipe businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Electric, Manufacturing, and Plastics. The Electric segment generates, purchases, transmissions, distributes, and sells electric energy in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota; and operates as a participant in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator markets. This segment generates electricity through coal, fuel oil, solar, wind, and natural gas for residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Its Manufacturing segment engages in metal fabrication services for custom machine parts and metal components and manufacturing thermoformed plastic products for use in the agriculture, construction, horticulture, industrial, lawn and garden, recreational vehicle, and other end markets. These businesses have manufacturing facilities in Georgia, Illinois, and Minnesota and sell products primarily in the United States. The Plastics segment manufactures polyvinyl chloride pipes for municipal water, rural water, wastewater, storm drainage and water reclamation system, and other uses for customers in the horticulture, medical and life sciences, industrial, recreation, and electronics industries. This segment markets its products through independent sales representatives, company salespersons, and customer service representatives. Otter Tail Corporation was incorporated in 1907 and is headquartered in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

NRG Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through the Texas, East, West/Other, Vivint Smart Home, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers retail electricity, energy management, demand response and virtual power plant programs, carbon offsets, smart home security, and automation services. It also offers system power, distributed and backup generation, energy storage, energy management, renewable and low-carbon products, and carbon management solutions for large business and commercial customers; a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions; and generation portfolio includes fossil fuel and renewable generation assets diversified by fuel type and dispatch level, with ongoing development of new natural gas and renewable projects. In addition, the company trades in power, natural gas, and related products; environmental products; weather products; and financial products, including forwards, futures, options, and swaps. It offers its products and services under the NRG, Reliant, Direct Energy, Green Mountain Energy, and Vivint. It serves residential, commercial, government, industrial, data center, and wholesale customers. NRG Energy, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Latest Electric Utilities and Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy, Inc. Stock News

As of September 9, 2026, Otter Tail Corporation had a $3.8 billion market capitalization, compared to the Electric Utilities median of $18.2 million. Otter Tail Corporation’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and up 8.05% in the past year.

Currently, Otter Tail Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 19.3. Otter Tail Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.3 billion with a 14.8% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 0.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $6.075 per share for the current fiscal year. Otter Tail Corporation currently has a 2.6% dividend yield.

Currently, NRG Energy, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 29.8. NRG Energy, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $33.1 billion with a 2.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 11.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $8.831 per share for the current fiscal year. NRG Energy, Inc. currently has a 1.6% dividend yield.

How We Compare Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Otter Tail Corporation	OTTR	C
NRG Energy, Inc.	NRG	D

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Otter Tail Corporation has a Value Score of 56, which is Average. NRG Energy, Inc. has a Value Score of 31, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy or Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Otter Tail Corporation	OTTR	C
NRG Energy, Inc.	NRG	D

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Otter Tail Corporation has a Quality Score of 47, which is Average. NRG Energy, Inc. has a Quality Score of 35, which is Weak.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy or Inc. has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to quality.

Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Otter Tail Corporation	OTTR	C
NRG Energy, Inc.	NRG	D

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Otter Tail Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 53, which is Neutral. NRG Energy, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 35, which is Negative.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy or Inc. has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc. Grades

In addition to Value, Quality and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Otter Tail Corporation stock has a Value Score of 56, Estimate Revisions Score of 53 and Quality Score of 47.

NRG Energy, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 31, Estimate Revisions Score of 35 and Quality Score of 35.

Comparing Otter Tail Corporation, NRG Energy and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.