Chesapeake Utilities (CPK) Competitors

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

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 more volatility and risk, CPK or LNT?

Chesapeake Utilities has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its share price is 30% 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.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership 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 company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend CPK or LNT?

Chesapeake Utilities currently has a consensus target price of $124.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.10%. Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $65.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.72%. Given Alliant Energy's higher possible 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

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CPK or LNT?

Alliant Energy has lower revenue, but higher 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	$83.31B	0.04	$118.60M	$5.61	22.21
Alliant Energy	$4.14B	3.99	$690M	$3.24	19.88

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 3.2%. 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 increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years and Alliant Energy has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Does the media refer more to CPK or LNT?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 11 more articles in the media than Chesapeake Utilities. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for Alliant Energy and 6 mentions for Chesapeake Utilities. Chesapeake Utilities' average media sentiment score of 1.74 beat Alliant Energy's score of 1.65 indicating that Chesapeake Utilities is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Chesapeake Utilities	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Alliant Energy	14 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Chesapeake Utilities beats Alliant Energy on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.