ONE Gas (OGS) Competitors

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) and ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and profitability.

Does the media favor LNT or OGS?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 2 more articles in the media than ONE Gas. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Alliant Energy and 19 mentions for ONE Gas. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.20 beat ONE Gas' score of 0.64 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	13 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
ONE Gas	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, LNT or OGS?

Alliant Energy has higher revenue and earnings than ONE Gas. ONE Gas 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
Alliant Energy	$3.97B	4.06	$703M	$2.58	24.34
ONE Gas	$2.08B	1.99	$231.23M	$3.91	18.69

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

79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of ONE Gas shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of ONE Gas shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer LNT or OGS?

ONE Gas received 193 more outperform votes than Alliant Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 47.96% of users gave ONE Gas an outperform vote while only 36.14% of users gave Alliant Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Alliant Energy	Outperform Votes 30 36.14%	Underperform Votes 53 63.86%
ONE Gas	Outperform Votes 223 47.96%	Underperform Votes 242 52.04%

Do analysts rate LNT or OGS?

Alliant Energy currently has a consensus price target of $63.39, indicating a potential upside of 0.92%. ONE Gas has a consensus price target of $72.31, indicating a potential downside of 1.05%. Given Alliant Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Alliant Energy is more favorable than ONE Gas.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alliant Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
ONE Gas	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.13

Is LNT or OGS more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 16.66% compared to ONE Gas' net margin of 10.70%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 10.56% beat ONE Gas' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alliant Energy	16.66%	10.56%	3.31%
ONE Gas	10.70%	7.89%	2.83%

Which has more volatility and risk, LNT or OGS?

Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ONE Gas has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is LNT or OGS a better dividend stock?

Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. ONE Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. 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. ONE Gas pays out 67.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alliant Energy has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years. ONE Gas is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

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