Alliant leads in the shift to green energy

Article Excerpt

These two utilities continue to phase out their coal-fired power plants to comply with tougher environmental regulations. That will cut their risk and give them more cash flow to reward investors. However, Alliant remains the better choice as it is closer to this goal than Ameren. ALLIANT ENERGY CORP. $52 is a buy. This utility (New York symbol LNT; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 251.4 million; Market cap: $13.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.alliantenergy.com) sells power and natural gas to 1.4 million clients in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. In the first quarter of 2023, Alliant’s revenue rose 0.8%, to $1.08 billion from $1.07 billion a year earlier. Warmer-than-usual weather hurt demand for power and gas for heating. However, higher electric rates helped offset that drop. Higher interest payments and operating costs also cut its earnings by 15.6%, to $0.65 a share from $0.77. Alliant plans to spend $8.5 billion on new projects and upgrades between 2023 and 2026. About…