MGE Energy (MGEE) Competitors

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) and MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, institutional ownership and risk.

Is LNT or MGEE a better dividend stock?

Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. MGE Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Alliant Energy pays out 70.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MGE Energy pays out 50.8% 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. Alliant Energy has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years and MGE Energy has increased its dividend for 49 consecutive years.

Is LNT or MGEE more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 18.26% compared to MGE Energy's net margin of 18.22%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 12.01% beat MGE Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alliant Energy	18.26%	12.01%	3.71%
MGE Energy	18.22%	10.58%	4.61%

Do analysts prefer LNT or MGEE?

Alliant Energy currently has a consensus target price of $64.23, suggesting a potential downside of 1.90%. MGE Energy has a consensus target price of $74.00, suggesting a potential downside of 11.86%. Given Alliant Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Alliant Energy is more favorable than MGE Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alliant Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.36
MGE Energy	2 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.00

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

79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.6% of MGE Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of MGE Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer LNT or MGEE?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy and Alliant Energy both had 5 articles in the media. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat MGE Energy's score of 0.82 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Alliant Energy	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
MGE Energy	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, LNT or MGEE?

Alliant Energy has higher revenue and earnings than MGE Energy. Alliant Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MGE Energy, 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
Alliant Energy	$3.98B	4.22	$690M	$2.90	22.58
MGE Energy	$704.58M	4.35	$120.57M	$3.54	23.72

Which has more risk & volatility, LNT or MGEE?

Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MGE Energy has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Alliant Energy beats MGE Energy on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.