Chesapeake Utilities (CPK) Competitors

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

Is CPK or LNT a better dividend stock?

Chesapeake Utilities pays an annual dividend of $2.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Chesapeake Utilities pays out 48.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alliant Energy pays out 62.7% 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. Chesapeake Utilities has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years and Alliant Energy has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in CPK or LNT?

83.1% of Chesapeake Utilities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Chesapeake Utilities shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are owned 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.

Which has more risk and volatility, CPK or LNT?

Chesapeake Utilities has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CPK or LNT more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 20.07% compared to Chesapeake Utilities' net margin of 14.89%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 12.25% beat Chesapeake Utilities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chesapeake Utilities	14.89%	9.20%	3.62%
Alliant Energy	20.07%	12.25%	3.75%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, CPK or LNT?

Alliant Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Chesapeake Utilities. Alliant Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chesapeake Utilities, 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
Chesapeake Utilities	$787.20M	3.76	$118.60M	$5.61	22.43
Alliant Energy	$4.14B	4.05	$690M	$3.24	20.18

Do analysts recommend CPK or LNT?

Chesapeake Utilities presently has a consensus target price of $124.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.06%. Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $64.80, indicating a potential downside of 0.87%. Given Alliant Energy's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Alliant Energy is more favorable than Chesapeake Utilities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chesapeake Utilities	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Alliant Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30

Does the media refer more to CPK or LNT?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 6 more articles in the media than Chesapeake Utilities. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Alliant Energy and 16 mentions for Chesapeake Utilities. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat Chesapeake Utilities' score of 0.64 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Chesapeake Utilities	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alliant Energy	13 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Alliant Energy beats Chesapeake Utilities on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.