Contrasting Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel (NYSE:ELPC) & Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT)

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel (NYSE:ELPC) and Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Dividends

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel pays out 105.5% 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 pays out 67.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alliant Energy has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel and Alliant Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel	0	2	1	1	2.75
Alliant Energy	0	3	9	0	2.75

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel presently has a consensus target price of $10.40, indicating a potential downside of 17.78%. Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $76.44, indicating a potential upside of 3.22%. Given Alliant Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Alliant Energy is more favorable than Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel.

Risk & Volatility

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel has a beta of 0.06, meaning that its share price is 94% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel and Alliant Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel	$26.12 billion	0.36	$409.35 million	$0.55	23.00
Alliant Energy	$4.36 billion	4.39	$810.00 million	$3.19	23.22

Alliant Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alliant Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel and Alliant Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel	N/A	N/A	N/A
Alliant Energy	18.58%	11.37%	3.38%

Summary

Alliant Energy beats Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – COPEL engages in the generation, transformation, distribution, and sale of electricity to industrial, residential, commercial, rural, and other customers in Brazil. The company operates through Power Generation and Transmission, Power Distribution, GAS, Power Sale, and Holding and Services segments. It is also involved in the piped natural gas distribution. The company operates hydroelectric, wind, and thermoelectric plants; and owns and operates transmission and distribution lines. It holds concessions to distribute electricity in municipalities in the State of Paraná and in the municipality of Porto União in the State of Santa Catarina. Companhia Paranaense de Energia COPEL was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Curitiba, Brazil.

About Alliant Energy

Alliant Energy Corporation operates as a utility holding company that provides regulated electricity and natural gas services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations, and Utility Other. The company, through its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), primarily generates and distributes electricity, and distributes and transports natural gas to retail customers in Iowa; sells electricity to wholesale customers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa; and generates and distributes steam in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Alliant Energy Corporation, through its other subsidiary, Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL), generates and distributes electricity, and distributes and transports natural gas to retail customers in Wisconsin; and sells electricity to wholesale customers in Wisconsin. It serves retail customers in the farming, agriculture, industrial manufacturing, chemical, packaging, and food industries, as well as wholesale customers comprising municipalities and rural electric cooperatives. In addition, the company owns and operates a short-line rail freight service in Iowa; a Mississippi River barge, rail, and truck freight terminal in Illinois; freight brokerage services; wind turbine blade recycling services; and a rail-served warehouse in Iowa. Further, it holds interests in a natural gas-fired electric generating unit near Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin; and a wind farm located in Oklahoma. The company was formerly known as Interstate Energy Corp. and changed its name to Alliant Energy Corporation in May 1999. Alliant Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.