PPL (PPL) Competitors

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

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in 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, 0.3% of PPL shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, LNT or PPL?

Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PPL has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate LNT or PPL?

Alliant Energy presently has a consensus target price of $65.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.25%. PPL has a consensus target price of $36.70, indicating a potential downside of 0.96%. Given PPL's stronger consensus rating and higher probable 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

Does the media prefer LNT or PPL?

In the previous week, PPL had 2 more articles in the media than Alliant Energy. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for PPL and 15 mentions for Alliant Energy. PPL's average media sentiment score of 1.52 beat Alliant Energy's score of 1.39 indicating that PPL is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Alliant Energy	10 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
PPL	15 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, 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	$3.98B	4.28	$690M	$3.24	20.47
PPL	$8.46B	3.24	$888M	$1.34	27.65

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%

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 3.1%. PPL pays an annual dividend of $1.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. 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 increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years and PPL has increased 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.

Summary

Alliant Energy and PPL tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.