New investments will cut their coal use

Article Excerpt

These two utilities plan big investments in their operations over the next few years. That will boost their earnings and give them more cash for dividends. We prefer Alliant for your new buying due to its lower reliance on coal, which cuts its risk. ALLIANT ENERGY CORP. $50 is a buy. This utility (New York symbol LNT; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 255.2 million; Market cap: $12.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.alliantenergy.com) sells power and natural gas to 1.4 million clients in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. In the third quarter of 2023, Alliant’s revenue fell 5.1%, to $1.08 billion from $1.14 billion a year earlier. Milder-than-usual weather hurt demand for power and gas for heating. However, earnings improved 12.9%, to $1.05 a share from $0.93. That’s due to lower operating costs due to a plan to bury more of its power lines, which cuts maintenance costs and the risk of storm damage. Alliant plans to spend $9.1 billion on…