ES vs NGG: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ES and NGG share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ES and NGG exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Eversource Energy is a public utility holding company that delivers electricity and natural gas to roughly 4 million customers across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Its earnings come almost entirely from regulated electric distribution, electric transmission, and gas distribution, where allowed returns and rate base (the capital investment regulators let it earn on) drive results. After several turbulent years, the company completed its exit from offshore wind in 2024 and closed the ~$2.4 billion sale of its Aquarion Water business in mid-2026, repositioning itself as a pure-play regulated utility focused on wires and pipes.

Full ES guide

National Grid plc owns and operates regulated energy networks on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK it runs the high-voltage electricity transmission system in England and Wales and, through National Grid Electricity Distribution (the former Western Power), the local power networks serving roughly 8 million customers in the Midlands, South West England and South Wales. In the US it owns Niagara Mohawk in upstate New York, the KEDNY and KEDLI gas utilities in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, and electric and gas utilities in Massachusetts, plus FERC-regulated transmission in New England. A smaller arm, National Grid Ventures, holds interconnectors to Europe and minority investments. The company has spent three years simplifying: it sold the electricity system operator to the UK government, a majority of its UK gas transmission business, National Grid Renewables and Grain LNG. The NYSE-listed NGG is an American Depositary Receipt, and one ADR represents five ordinary shares listed in London as NG.

Full NGG guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• ES drivers: Rate-base growth from a large capital plan; Simplified pure-play regulated profile.
• NGG drivers: RIIO-T3 and the UK transmission build; New York rate base growth.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Regulatory outcomes are the central risk: a FERC reduction to the base transmission ROE is expected to lower after-tax earnings by roughly $70 million in 2026 and contributed to a downward revision of full-year guidance. For NGG, regulation is the core risk.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ES if you believe its drivers more; NGG if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ES and NGG guides.

ES. Eversource beat Q1 2026 estimates with revenue of about $4.5 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $1.73, then met the $0.87 consensus in Q2, after trimming full-year non-GAAP guidance to roughly $4.57 to $4.72 to reflect the FERC ROE reduction and the loss of Aquarion earnings; consensus sits near $4.65. At about $66.75 on October 16, 2026 the stock trades near 17x trailing and about 13.5x forward earnings with a yield near 4.7 percent, toward the cheaper end for a regulated utility, where shares trade on rate-base growth, regulatory outcomes and interest rates more than on quarterly momentum. The average analyst target among 12 analysts was about $73.

NGG. Utilities are usually valued on earnings, dividends and the premium paid over regulated asset value. National Grid's regulated assets plus other businesses totaled ~£72 billion at March 2026 against ~£44 billion of net debt, so the ~£61 billion equity value implies a premium to book asset value, consistent with investor confidence in growth. The trailing P/E of ~15.7x on underlying EPS falls toward ~14x if 2026/27 EPS grows 13-15% as guided. Statutory EPS was lower at 65.5p, putting the statutory P/E near ~19x. The ADR has traded between ~$73 and ~$95 over the past year.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): ES shows revenue (ttm) ~$14.0B, net income (ttm) ~$1.45B (profit margin ~10%), market cap ~$25.1B, 2026 eps consensus ~$4.65 (2027: ~$4.93); NGG shows adr price (ngg) ~$82 (1 ADR = 5 ordinary shares), market cap ~$82 billion (~£61 billion), revenue (fy to mar 2026) ~£17.7 billion (~$23.6 billion), underlying eps (fy to mar 2026) ~78.0p (~$5.20 per ADR).

ES and NGG are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ES and NGG exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.