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Alliant Energy Corporation’s LNT long-term investments in natural gas projects and stable returns from regulated assets will further drive its bottom line. The company’s focus on electricity generated from clean assets will help serve its expanding customer base.

However, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s dependence on third-party assets for transmission acts as a headwind.

Alliant Energy 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 its generation portfolio. It expects investments of $9.1 billion during 2024-2027.

As the company is not experiencing any disruption in the supply chain, it is currently targeting long-term annual earnings growth in the range of 5-7%. Its geographic location and favorable regulatory developments bode well for the development of wind projects and long-term earnings growth.

Alliant Energy’s earnings prospects look attractive due to ongoing additions to electric and natural gas customer volumes. In addition, a diverse customer mix provides stability to sales as the company does not depend on a single group for revenues.

With a focus on expanding its solar energy portfolio, Alliant Energy plans to bring 400 megawatts (MW) of solar energy online in Iowa in 2024. By the end of the year, nearly 1,500 MW of additional energy used by its customers will be from clean, zero-fuel-cost energy resources.

Headwinds

The company’s utility operations — IPL and WPL — use the interstate electric transmission system that they do not own or control. Rates charged to these subsidiaries are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If transmission costs go up and LNT is unable to recover those costs from its customers, operational expenses are bound to rise.

A fall in the performance of the third-party electric transmission system will limit Alliant Energy’s ability to transmit electricity within its service territories and adversely impact its operations.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the same industry are DTE Energy DTE, NiSource Inc. NI and IDACORP IDA, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

DTE Energy’s long-term (three to five year) earnings growth rate is 6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DTE’s 2024 earnings per share (EPS) indicates an increase of 16.9% year over year.

NiSource’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.15%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NI’s 2024 EPS indicates an increase of 7.5% year over year.

IDA’s long-term earnings growth rate is 4.38%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IDA’s 2024 EPS implies a 5.6% year-over-year improvement.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.