Alliant Energy (LNT) Competitors

NiSource (NYSE:NI) and Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, media sentiment and risk.

Which has more volatility and risk, NI or LNT?

NiSource has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to NI or LNT?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 5 more articles in the media than NiSource. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for Alliant Energy and 23 mentions for NiSource. NiSource's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat Alliant Energy's score of 0.67 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NiSource	7 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alliant Energy	13 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NI or LNT more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 17.53% compared to Alliant Energy's net margin of 12.98%. NiSource's return on equity of 10.57% beat Alliant Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NiSource	12.98%	10.10%	2.60%
Alliant Energy	17.53%	10.57%	3.38%

Do analysts prefer NI or LNT?

NiSource presently has a consensus price target of $29.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.05%. Alliant Energy has a consensus price target of $51.38, suggesting a potential upside of 0.32%. Given Alliant Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe NiSource is more favorable than Alliant Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NiSource	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Alliant Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in NI or LNT?

91.6% of NiSource shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of NiSource shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NI or LNT?

NiSource received 390 more outperform votes than Alliant Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 53.92% of users gave NiSource an outperform vote while only 34.33% of users gave Alliant Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NiSource	Outperform Votes 413 53.92%	Underperform Votes 353 46.08%
Alliant Energy	Outperform Votes 23 34.33%	Underperform Votes 44 65.67%

Is NI or LNT a better dividend stock?

NiSource pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. NiSource pays out 72.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alliant Energy pays out 69.8% 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. NiSource has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Alliant Energy has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Alliant Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, NI or LNT?

NiSource has higher revenue and earnings than Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NiSource, 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
NiSource	$5.51B	2.32	$714.30M	$1.47	19.37
Alliant Energy	$4.03B	3.27	$703M	$2.75	18.70

Summary

Alliant Energy beats NiSource on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.