NiSource (NI) Competitors

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

Is LNT or NI a better dividend stock?

Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. NiSource pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Alliant Energy pays out 62.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NiSource pays out 59.6% 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 raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years and NiSource has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Alliant Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts recommend LNT or NI?

Alliant Energy presently has a consensus target price of $65.50, suggesting a potential upside of 0.58%. NiSource has a consensus target price of $42.56, suggesting a potential upside of 0.88%. Given NiSource's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe NiSource is more favorable than Alliant Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alliant Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30
NiSource	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.90

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in LNT or NI?

79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of NiSource shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of NiSource 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 & volatility, LNT or NI?

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

Is LNT or NI more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 20.07% compared to NiSource's net margin of 14.46%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 12.25% beat NiSource's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alliant Energy	20.07%	12.25%	3.75%
NiSource	14.46%	8.25%	2.73%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, LNT or NI?

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
Alliant Energy	$3.98B	4.20	$690M	$3.24	20.10
NiSource	$6.13B	3.24	$760.40M	$1.88	22.44

Does the media prefer LNT or NI?

In the previous week, NiSource had 2 more articles in the media than Alliant Energy. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for NiSource and 20 mentions for Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.67 beat NiSource's score of 1.55 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	17 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
NiSource	22 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Alliant Energy and NiSource tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.