Alliant Energy (LNT) Competitors

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

Is NI or LNT a better dividend stock?

NiSource pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. NiSource pays out 69.3% 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.

Is NI or LNT more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 17.53% compared to Alliant Energy's net margin of 14.23%. 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	14.23%	9.56%	2.69%
Alliant Energy	17.53%	10.57%	3.38%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in NI or LNT?

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

Which has more risk & volatility, NI or LNT?

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

Which has preferable earnings and 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	2.27	$714.30M	$1.53	18.24
Alliant Energy	$4.03B	3.17	$703M	$2.75	18.13

Does the media refer more to NI or LNT?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 10 more articles in the media than NiSource. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Alliant Energy and 9 mentions for NiSource. NiSource's average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat Alliant Energy's score of 0.84 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	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alliant Energy	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NI or LNT?

NiSource received 393 more outperform votes than Alliant Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.10% 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 416 54.10%	Underperform Votes 353 45.90%
Alliant Energy	Outperform Votes 23 34.33%	Underperform Votes 44 65.67%

Do analysts prefer NI or LNT?

NiSource presently has a consensus target price of $29.71, suggesting a potential upside of 6.50%. Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $51.38, suggesting a potential upside of 3.02%. Given Alliant Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly 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)	5 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

Summary

Alliant Energy beats NiSource on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.