Spire (SR) Competitors

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

Which has better valuation & earnings, SR or LNT?

Alliant Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Spire. Spire 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
Spire	$2.51B	1.80	$250.90M	$4.13	18.75
Alliant Energy	$3.98B	4.07	$703M	$2.69	23.46

Which has more volatility & risk, SR or LNT?

Spire has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less 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 SR or LNT more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 17.33% compared to Spire's net margin of 9.70%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 11.39% beat Spire's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spire	9.70%	7.88%	2.22%
Alliant Energy	17.33%	11.39%	3.55%

Do analysts rate SR or LNT?

Spire currently has a consensus target price of $76.00, indicating a potential downside of 1.88%. Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $63.55, indicating a potential upside of 0.68%. Given Alliant Energy's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Alliant Energy is more favorable than Spire.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spire	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Alliant Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30

Is SR or LNT a better dividend stock?

Spire pays an annual dividend of $3.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Spire pays out 76.0% 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. Spire has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years and Alliant Energy has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Spire is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SR or LNT?

Spire received 381 more outperform votes than Alliant Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 57.56% of users gave Spire an outperform vote while only 34.88% of users gave Alliant Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Spire	Outperform Votes 411 57.56%	Underperform Votes 303 42.44%
Alliant Energy	Outperform Votes 30 34.88%	Underperform Votes 56 65.12%

Does the media favor SR or LNT?

In the previous week, Spire had 10 more articles in the media than Alliant Energy. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Spire and 14 mentions for Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.56 beat Spire's score of 0.75 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Spire	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alliant Energy	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

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

87.4% of Spire shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Spire 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, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

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