Reasons to Add Alliant Energy (LNT) to Your Portfolio Now


Alliant Energy Corporation

’s

LNT

regular investments to add clean power generation assets to its generation portfolio, expansion of the customer base and strong liquidity make it a solid choice for investment in the utility space.

Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock a strong investment pick at the moment. You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here


.

Growth Projections

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 earnings per share has moved up 1.9% in the past 60 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings for 2021 and 2022 indicates year-over-year growth of 8.6% and 4.2%, respectively.

Surprise History and Earnings Growth

Alliant Energy delivered an average earnings surprise of 4.4% in the last four quarters.

Alliant Energy’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth is projected at 6.1%.

Return on Equity & Dividend Yield

Return on Equity (ROE) indicates how efficiently Alliant Energy is utilizing shareholders’ funds to generate returns. At present, Alliant Energy’s ROE is 11.01%, higher than the industry average of 9.26%.

Currently, Alliant Energy has a

dividend yield

of 2.78% compared with the Zacks S&P 500 composite’s 1.33%.

Regular Investments & Emission Reduction

Alliant Energy announced plans to invest substantially over the next four years to strengthen the electric and gas distribution network as well as add natural gas and renewable assets to the generation portfolio. Alliant Energy has plans to strengthen electric and natural gas distribution systems as well as make regular investments to strengthen infrastructure. Alliant Energy has plans to invest $5.8 billion between 2022 and 2025.

Alliant Energy voluntarily announced the goal of retiring all existing coal-fired generation units by 2040, with an objective of lowering emissions from 2005 levels by 50% and 100% within 2030 and 2050, respectively. In total, Alliant Energy will replace 2 gigawatts of coal-fired generation with clean energy sources over the next few years.

Price Performance

Over the past 12 months, Alliant Energy’s shares have returned 10.9% compared with the

industry

’s 5.2% growth.

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Other Stocks to Consider

Other top-ranked stocks in the same sector include

Otter Tail Corporation


OTTR

,

California Water Service Group


CWT

and

Dominion Energy


D

, each holding a Zacks Rank #2.

Otter Tail, California Water Service, and Dominion Energy delivered an average earnings surprise of 27.9%, 10.8%, and 2.4%, respectively, in the last four quarters.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 earnings per share of Otter Tail, California Water Service, and Dominion Energy has moved up 0.8%, 7.6%, and 0.3%, respectively, in the past 60 days.

Year to date, shares of Otter Tail, California Water Service, and Dominion Energy have returned 67%, 22.3%, and 2.2%, respectively, compared with the Zacks Utility Sector’s 6.7% growth.


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