PPL (PPL) Competitors

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

Is PPL or LNT a better dividend stock?

PPL pays an annual dividend of $1.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. PPL pays out 81.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Alliant Energy pays out 62.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PPL has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Alliant Energy has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Alliant Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

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

77.0% of PPL shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of PPL 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 company is poised for long-term growth.

Is PPL or LNT more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 20.07% compared to PPL's net margin of 11.22%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 12.25% beat PPL's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PPL	11.22%	8.81%	3.02%
Alliant Energy	20.07%	12.25%	3.75%

Do analysts prefer PPL or LNT?

PPL currently has a consensus target price of $36.78, indicating a potential upside of 0.26%. Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $66.00, indicating a potential downside of 1.20%. Given PPL's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe PPL is more favorable than Alliant Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PPL	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.10
Alliant Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Which has higher earnings & valuation, PPL or LNT?

PPL has higher revenue and earnings than Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PPL, 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
PPL	$8.46B	3.21	$888M	$1.34	27.38
Alliant Energy	$3.98B	4.31	$690M	$3.24	20.62

Which has more volatility & risk, PPL or LNT?

PPL 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 0.54, meaning that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor PPL or LNT?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 6 more articles in the media than PPL. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Alliant Energy and 3 mentions for PPL. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat PPL's score of 0.78 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
PPL	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alliant Energy	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Alliant Energy beats PPL on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.