Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) and Sunnova Energy International (NYSE:NOVA) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Alliant Energy and Sunnova Energy International's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Alliant Energy | $3.65 billion | 3.70 | $567.40 million | $2.31 | 23.38 |
Sunnova Energy International | $131.56 million | 29.13 | $-144,350,000.00 | ($2.91) | -12.19 |
Alliant Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Sunnova Energy International. Sunnova Energy International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alliant Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Alliant Energy and Sunnova Energy International, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Alliant Energy | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2.33 |
Sunnova Energy International | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3.00 |
Alliant Energy presently has a consensus target price of $56.1667, suggesting a potential upside of 3.99%. Sunnova Energy International has a consensus target price of $52.2727, suggesting a potential upside of 47.41%. Given Sunnova Energy International's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Sunnova Energy International is more favorable than Alliant Energy.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
73.0% of Alliant Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.9% of Sunnova Energy International shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility & Risk
Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sunnova Energy International has a beta of 2.19, suggesting that its stock price is 119% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Alliant Energy and Sunnova Energy International's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Alliant Energy | 19.33% | 12.01% | 3.86% |
Sunnova Energy International | -113.82% | -18.35% | -4.55% |
Summary
Alliant Energy beats Sunnova Energy International on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.