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LNT vs. EVRG: Which Electric Utility Stock Is a Better Investment Pick?
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Key Takeaways
Alliant Energy and Evergy benefit from rising demand, data centers, and renewable investments.
EVRG projects EPS of $4.26 in 2026 and $4.54 in 2027 with long-term growth at 9.07%.
LNT shows stronger ROE at 11.51% and plans $13.4B investment for infrastructure and clean energy.
Companies operating in the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry are engaged in generating and delivering electricity to millions of consumers across the United States. These utilities, supported by their regulated structure, can earn predictable returns, while rising customer demand boosts earnings.
They reward shareholders with consistent dividends and planned share buybacks, making them a dependable defensive investment option. Utilities are in the path of energy transition and are fast shifting toward cleaner energy sources to reduce emissions.
Electricity demand in the United States is rising, driven by higher residential consumption, industrial reshoring and increasing data center demand. Industries operating in this sector are making strategic investments for renewable expansion, grid modernization and strengthening distribution networks to maintain service reliability.
Amid the rising importance of electricity generation and distribution companies, let us compare Alliant Energy Corporation (LNT - Free Report) and Evergy, Inc. (EVRG - Free Report) . These two regulated electric utilities benefit from an expanding customer base, a rise in data center demand, systematic investment in infrastructure development and renewable expansion.
Alliant Energy stands out with its regulated structure that operates through four wholly owned subsidiaries, efficiently serving electric and natural gas customers. The company is aided by an expanding customer base, an increase in data center demand and strong supply chain management, supporting its steady earnings growth. Alliant Energy invests systematically to expand renewable assets and infrastructure development, which enhances operational efficiency and strengthens financial performance.
Evergy, with its regulated framework operating through subsidiaries, serves more than 1.7 million customers in Kansas and Missouri. The company, combined with its subsidiaries, has 15,800 megawatts (MWs) of its own generating assets. EVRG benefits from operational expansion through strategic joint ventures and acquisitions, as well as increasing data center demand. Its strategic investment supports renewable expansion and infrastructure development, improving service reliability and supporting long-term growth.
Alliant Energy and Evergy are among the leading utilities. Examining their fundamentals side by side can reveal which stock presents the most attractive investment opportunity.
EVRG & LNT's Earnings Estimates
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EVRG’s earnings per share is pegged at $4.26 in 2026 and $4.54 in 2027, suggesting year-over-year growth of 11.23% and 6.67%, respectively. EVRG’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth is currently pinned at 9.07%.
EVRG Estimate Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LNT’s earnings per share is pegged at $3.43 in 2026 and $3.70 in 2027, suggesting year-over-year growth of 6.52% and 7.78%, respectively. LNT’s long-term earnings growth is currently pinned at 7.15%.
LNT Estimate Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Debt to Capital
The Zacks Utilities sector is a capital-intensive sector, and companies often borrow funds to run their business efficiently, maintain service reliability and support growing demand. These utilities combine internally generated cash flows with borrowed funds from capital markets to finance long-term investments, ensuring steady growth.
Evergy’s debt-to-capital currently stands at 59.69% compared with Alliant Energy’s 62.29% and the industry’s 61.04%. Both companies are using debt to fund their business, with LNT higher than EVRG, indicating greater reliance on borrowed funds.
Return on Equity
Return on Equity (“ROE”) reflects how efficiently a company utilizes shareholders’ funds to generate returns. It plays a vital role in evaluating management efficiency and overall financial performance, highlighting how efficiently resources are used to generate sustainable growth.
Alliant Energy’s current ROE is 11.51%, outperforming Evergy, which reports a lower ROE of 8.79% compared with the industry’s 10.82%. LNT utilizes shareholders’ capital more efficiently and generates higher profits.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
LNT & EVRG’s Dividend Yield
Dividends are regular payments distributed by a utility company to reward its shareholders, offering a commitment to delivering consistent returns on invested capital. It reflects the company’s earnings stability and strong cash flow.
Currently, the dividend yield for Evergy is 3.49%, while that for Alliant Energy is 3.02%. The dividend yields of both companies are higher than the S&P 500’s yield of 1.40%.
Capital Investment Plans
Utilities’ operations are capital-intensive, often requiring huge funds for infrastructure development, enhancing system reliability and maintaining the existing assets. Electric utilities engaged in power generation and distribution are continuously investing in renewable expansion, energy storage, replacement of outdated equipment and grid modernization. These investments ensure reliability and help avoid outages even during extreme weather conditions.
Alliant Energy plans to invest $13.4 billion during 2026-2029 to upgrade infrastructure, support cleaner energy generation and drive 12% rate-based growth. Evergy aims to invest $21.6 billion during 2026-2030, including more than $3 billion for new generation capacity to meet rising customer demand, driving 11.5% rate base growth and 6-8% EPS growth.
Price Performance
Alliant Energy’s shares have gained 8.0% over the past three months compared with Evergy’s rise of 6.2%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Summing Up
Alliant Energy and Evergy both gain from expanding customer base, rising data center demand and heavy investment in infrastructure to reliably serve millions across the United States.
LNT, supported by stable earnings per share growth, stronger ROE and better price performance, appears to be a more attractive choice in the utility sector.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
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LNT vs. EVRG: Which Electric Utility Stock Is a Better Investment Pick?
Key Takeaways
Companies operating in the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry are engaged in generating and delivering electricity to millions of consumers across the United States. These utilities, supported by their regulated structure, can earn predictable returns, while rising customer demand boosts earnings.
They reward shareholders with consistent dividends and planned share buybacks, making them a dependable defensive investment option. Utilities are in the path of energy transition and are fast shifting toward cleaner energy sources to reduce emissions.
Electricity demand in the United States is rising, driven by higher residential consumption, industrial reshoring and increasing data center demand. Industries operating in this sector are making strategic investments for renewable expansion, grid modernization and strengthening distribution networks to maintain service reliability.
Amid the rising importance of electricity generation and distribution companies, let us compare Alliant Energy Corporation (LNT - Free Report) and Evergy, Inc. (EVRG - Free Report) . These two regulated electric utilities benefit from an expanding customer base, a rise in data center demand, systematic investment in infrastructure development and renewable expansion.
Alliant Energy stands out with its regulated structure that operates through four wholly owned subsidiaries, efficiently serving electric and natural gas customers. The company is aided by an expanding customer base, an increase in data center demand and strong supply chain management, supporting its steady earnings growth. Alliant Energy invests systematically to expand renewable assets and infrastructure development, which enhances operational efficiency and strengthens financial performance.
Evergy, with its regulated framework operating through subsidiaries, serves more than 1.7 million customers in Kansas and Missouri. The company, combined with its subsidiaries, has 15,800 megawatts (MWs) of its own generating assets. EVRG benefits from operational expansion through strategic joint ventures and acquisitions, as well as increasing data center demand. Its strategic investment supports renewable expansion and infrastructure development, improving service reliability and supporting long-term growth.
Alliant Energy and Evergy are among the leading utilities. Examining their fundamentals side by side can reveal which stock presents the most attractive investment opportunity.
EVRG & LNT's Earnings Estimates
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EVRG’s earnings per share is pegged at $4.26 in 2026 and $4.54 in 2027, suggesting year-over-year growth of 11.23% and 6.67%, respectively. EVRG’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth is currently pinned at 9.07%.
EVRG Estimate Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LNT’s earnings per share is pegged at $3.43 in 2026 and $3.70 in 2027, suggesting year-over-year growth of 6.52% and 7.78%, respectively. LNT’s long-term earnings growth is currently pinned at 7.15%.
LNT Estimate Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Debt to Capital
The Zacks Utilities sector is a capital-intensive sector, and companies often borrow funds to run their business efficiently, maintain service reliability and support growing demand. These utilities combine internally generated cash flows with borrowed funds from capital markets to finance long-term investments, ensuring steady growth.
Evergy’s debt-to-capital currently stands at 59.69% compared with Alliant Energy’s 62.29% and the industry’s 61.04%. Both companies are using debt to fund their business, with LNT higher than EVRG, indicating greater reliance on borrowed funds.
Return on Equity
Return on Equity (“ROE”) reflects how efficiently a company utilizes shareholders’ funds to generate returns. It plays a vital role in evaluating management efficiency and overall financial performance, highlighting how efficiently resources are used to generate sustainable growth.
Alliant Energy’s current ROE is 11.51%, outperforming Evergy, which reports a lower ROE of 8.79% compared with the industry’s 10.82%. LNT utilizes shareholders’ capital more efficiently and generates higher profits.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
LNT & EVRG’s Dividend Yield
Dividends are regular payments distributed by a utility company to reward its shareholders, offering a commitment to delivering consistent returns on invested capital. It reflects the company’s earnings stability and strong cash flow.
Currently, the dividend yield for Evergy is 3.49%, while that for Alliant Energy is 3.02%. The dividend yields of both companies are higher than the S&P 500’s yield of 1.40%.
Capital Investment Plans
Utilities’ operations are capital-intensive, often requiring huge funds for infrastructure development, enhancing system reliability and maintaining the existing assets. Electric utilities engaged in power generation and distribution are continuously investing in renewable expansion, energy storage, replacement of outdated equipment and grid modernization. These investments ensure reliability and help avoid outages even during extreme weather conditions.
Alliant Energy plans to invest $13.4 billion during 2026-2029 to upgrade infrastructure, support cleaner energy generation and drive 12% rate-based growth. Evergy aims to invest $21.6 billion during 2026-2030, including more than $3 billion for new generation capacity to meet rising customer demand, driving 11.5% rate base growth and 6-8% EPS growth.
Price Performance
Alliant Energy’s shares have gained 8.0% over the past three months compared with Evergy’s rise of 6.2%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Summing Up
Alliant Energy and Evergy both gain from expanding customer base, rising data center demand and heavy investment in infrastructure to reliably serve millions across the United States.
LNT, supported by stable earnings per share growth, stronger ROE and better price performance, appears to be a more attractive choice in the utility sector.
Based on the above discussion, Alliant Energy currently has an edge over Evergy, though both presently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.