Alliant Energy (LNT) Competitors

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

Is NGG or LNT more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 16.66% compared to National Grid's net margin of 0.00%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 10.56% beat National Grid's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Grid	N/A	N/A	N/A
Alliant Energy	16.66%	10.56%	3.31%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NGG or LNT?

National Grid received 483 more outperform votes than Alliant Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.76% of users gave National Grid an outperform vote while only 36.14% of users gave Alliant Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
National Grid	Outperform Votes 513 58.76%	Underperform Votes 360 41.24%
Alliant Energy	Outperform Votes 30 36.14%	Underperform Votes 53 63.86%

Does the media favor NGG or LNT?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 10 more articles in the media than National Grid. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Alliant Energy and 11 mentions for National Grid. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.20 beat National Grid's score of 0.48 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
National Grid	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Alliant Energy	13 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate NGG or LNT?

Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $63.39, indicating a potential upside of 0.92%. Given Alliant Energy's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Alliant Energy is more favorable than National Grid.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Grid	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Alliant Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, NGG or LNT?

National Grid has higher revenue and earnings than Alliant Energy.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Grid	$24.95B	2.40	$2.88B	N/A	N/A
Alliant Energy	$3.97B	4.06	$703M	$2.58	24.34

Which has more risk & volatility, NGG or LNT?

National Grid has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in NGG or LNT?

4.7% of National Grid shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 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.

Is NGG or LNT a better dividend stock?

National Grid pays an annual dividend of $2.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Alliant Energy pays out 78.7% 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 21 consecutive years.

Summary

Alliant Energy beats National Grid on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.