Atmos Energy (ATO) Competitors

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

Which has more risk and volatility, ATO or LNT?

Atmos Energy has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of ATO or LNT?

90.2% of Atmos Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Atmos Energy 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, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is ATO or LNT a better dividend stock?

Atmos Energy pays an annual dividend of $3.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Atmos Energy pays out 48.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alliant Energy pays out 70.0% 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. Atmos Energy has raised its dividend for 41 consecutive years and Alliant Energy has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Which has better earnings and valuation, ATO or LNT?

Atmos Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Alliant Energy. Atmos Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alliant 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
Atmos Energy	$4.17B	5.89	$1.04B	$7.20	21.45
Alliant Energy	$4.08B	3.94	$690M	$2.90	21.59

Do analysts prefer ATO or LNT?

Atmos Energy currently has a consensus price target of $156.95, indicating a potential upside of 1.63%. Alliant Energy has a consensus price target of $64.32, indicating a potential upside of 2.74%. Given Alliant Energy's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Alliant Energy is more favorable than Atmos Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atmos Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73
Alliant Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.36

Is ATO or LNT more profitable?

Atmos Energy has a net margin of 25.35% compared to Alliant Energy's net margin of 18.26%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 12.01% beat Atmos Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atmos Energy	25.35%	9.05%	4.39%
Alliant Energy	18.26%	12.01%	3.71%

Does the media prefer ATO or LNT?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 1 more articles in the media than Atmos Energy. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Alliant Energy and 12 mentions for Atmos Energy. Atmos Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Alliant Energy's score of 1.32 indicating that Atmos Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Atmos Energy	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 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

Summary

Atmos Energy beats Alliant Energy on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.