PPL (PPL) Competitors

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

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, LNT or PPL?

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
Alliant Energy	$4.14B	3.96	$690M	$3.24	19.69
PPL	$8.81B	2.99	$888M	$1.34	26.55

Which has more risk and volatility, LNT or PPL?

Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PPL has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer LNT or PPL?

In the previous week, PPL had 1 more articles in the media than Alliant Energy. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for PPL and 13 mentions for Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat PPL's score of 1.54 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	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
PPL	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts prefer LNT or PPL?

Alliant Energy presently has a consensus target price of $65.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.68%. PPL has a consensus target price of $36.70, indicating a potential upside of 3.16%. Given PPL's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe PPL 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
PPL	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.10

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

79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.0% of PPL shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of PPL shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is LNT or PPL a better dividend stock?

Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. PPL pays an annual dividend of $1.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Alliant Energy pays out 62.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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 has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years and PPL has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Alliant Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is LNT or PPL 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
Alliant Energy	20.07%	12.25%	3.75%
PPL	11.22%	8.81%	3.02%

Summary

Alliant Energy beats PPL on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.