Alliant Energy (LNT) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ET or LNT?

Energy Transfer received 378 more outperform votes than Alliant Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.21% of users gave Energy Transfer an outperform vote while only 34.88% of users gave Alliant Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Energy Transfer	Outperform Votes 408 72.21%	Underperform Votes 157 27.79%
Alliant Energy	Outperform Votes 30 34.88%	Underperform Votes 56 65.12%

Which has more volatility and risk, ET or LNT?

Energy Transfer has a beta of 1.72, suggesting that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ET or LNT more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 17.33% compared to Energy Transfer's net margin of 5.74%. Energy Transfer's return on equity of 11.56% beat Alliant Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Energy Transfer	5.74%	11.56%	3.90%
Alliant Energy	17.33%	11.39%	3.55%

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

38.2% of Energy Transfer shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Energy Transfer shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate ET or LNT?

Energy Transfer currently has a consensus price target of $22.09, indicating a potential upside of 17.07%. Alliant Energy has a consensus price target of $63.55, indicating a potential upside of 2.33%. Given Energy Transfer's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Energy Transfer is more favorable than Alliant Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Energy Transfer	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.91
Alliant Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30

Does the media prefer ET or LNT?

In the previous week, Energy Transfer had 26 more articles in the media than Alliant Energy. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for Energy Transfer and 14 mentions for Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.46 beat Energy Transfer's score of 0.89 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Energy Transfer	21 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alliant Energy	11 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, ET or LNT?

Energy Transfer has higher revenue and earnings than Alliant Energy. Energy Transfer is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alliant Energy, 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
Energy Transfer	$82.67B	0.78	$4.39B	$1.28	14.74
Alliant Energy	$3.98B	4.00	$703M	$2.69	23.09

Is ET or LNT a better dividend stock?

Energy Transfer pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.9%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Energy Transfer pays out 101.6% 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 75.5% 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

Energy Transfer beats Alliant Energy on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.