NorthWestern Energy Group (NWE) Competitors

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

Is NWE or LNT a better dividend stock?

NorthWestern Energy Group pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. NorthWestern Energy Group pays out 71.9% 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. NorthWestern Energy Group has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years and Alliant Energy has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, NWE or LNT?

Alliant Energy has higher revenue and earnings than NorthWestern Energy Group. NorthWestern Energy Group 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
NorthWestern Energy Group	$1.53B	2.37	$224.11M	$3.67	16.08
Alliant Energy	$3.98B	4.43	$690M	$3.24	21.18

Which has more volatility and risk, NWE or LNT?

NorthWestern Energy Group has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate NWE or LNT?

NorthWestern Energy Group currently has a consensus target price of $59.80, suggesting a potential upside of 1.36%. Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $67.22, suggesting a potential downside of 2.05%. Given NorthWestern Energy Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe NorthWestern Energy Group is more favorable than Alliant Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NorthWestern Energy Group	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Alliant Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Does the media prefer NWE or LNT?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 11 more articles in the media than NorthWestern Energy Group. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Alliant Energy and 1 mentions for NorthWestern Energy Group. NorthWestern Energy Group's average media sentiment score of 1.84 beat Alliant Energy's score of 1.27 indicating that NorthWestern Energy Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NorthWestern Energy Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Alliant Energy	6 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NWE or LNT more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 20.07% compared to NorthWestern Energy Group's net margin of 14.81%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 12.25% beat NorthWestern Energy Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NorthWestern Energy Group	14.81%	7.40%	2.68%
Alliant Energy	20.07%	12.25%	3.75%

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

96.1% of NorthWestern Energy Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of NorthWestern Energy Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Alliant Energy beats NorthWestern Energy Group on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.