Alliant Energy (LNT) Competitors

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

Which has better valuation & earnings, NI or LNT?

NiSource has higher revenue and earnings than Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NiSource, 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
NiSource	$5.51B	2.38	$714.30M	$1.53	19.10
Alliant Energy	$4.03B	3.31	$703M	$2.75	18.90

Does the media favor NI or LNT?

In the previous week, NiSource had 7 more articles in the media than Alliant Energy. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for NiSource and 7 mentions for Alliant Energy. NiSource's average media sentiment score of 1.24 beat Alliant Energy's score of 0.80 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NiSource	5 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alliant Energy	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NI or LNT a better dividend stock?

NiSource pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. NiSource pays out 69.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alliant Energy pays out 69.8% 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. NiSource has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Alliant Energy has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Alliant Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is NI or LNT more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 17.53% compared to Alliant Energy's net margin of 14.23%. NiSource's return on equity of 10.57% beat Alliant Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NiSource	14.23%	9.56%	2.69%
Alliant Energy	17.53%	10.57%	3.38%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NI or LNT?

NiSource received 393 more outperform votes than Alliant Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.10% of users gave NiSource an outperform vote while only 34.33% of users gave Alliant Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NiSource	Outperform Votes 416 54.10%	Underperform Votes 353 45.90%
Alliant Energy	Outperform Votes 23 34.33%	Underperform Votes 44 65.67%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of NI or LNT?

91.6% of NiSource shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of NiSource 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, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, NI or LNT?

NiSource has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% 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.

Do analysts recommend NI or LNT?

NiSource currently has a consensus target price of $29.71, indicating a potential upside of 1.66%. Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $51.38, indicating a potential downside of 1.14%. Given Alliant Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe NiSource is more favorable than Alliant Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NiSource	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Alliant Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43

Summary

NiSource beats Alliant Energy on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.