Advertisement
CMS vs LNT
Which Stock Would AI Choose? CMS Energy Corporation (CMS) vs. Alliant Energy Corporation (LNT) Stock Comparison
Key Takeaways
- Both CMS and LNT are regulated electric utilities offering stable dividends around 3%, appealing for defensive portfolios.
- LNT has outperformed CMS in recent market activity, with YTD returns of about 11% versus 9.5% and stronger one-year gains.
- CMS boasts a larger market capitalization of $23.4 billion compared to LNT's $18.7 billion, with lower volatility (beta of 0.42 vs. 0.60).
- Recent earnings for CMS exceeded expectations, while LNT approaches its quarterly report with positive analyst sentiment.
- Analysts maintain buy ratings on both, with price targets suggesting upside potential amid utility sector stability.
Introduction
This stock comparison examines CMS Energy Corporation and Alliant Energy Corporation (LNT), two prominent players in the U.S. electric utility sector. Both companies provide essential energy services in the Midwest, benefiting from regulated operations and consistent demand. Investors seeking dividend income, low volatility, and defensive positioning amid market fluctuations may find this analysis valuable. By evaluating recent performance, financial metrics, and market sentiment, the article highlights relative strengths in the current environment, aiding informed decision-making for portfolio allocation in utilities.
CMS Overview and Recent Performance
CMS Energy Corporation, headquartered in Michigan, operates primarily through its subsidiaries, including Consumers Energy, serving about 1.9 million electric and 1.8 million gas customers. The company engages in electricity generation from diverse sources like renewables and natural gas, alongside gas distribution. In recent weeks, CMS shares have traded around $76, within a 52-week range of $67.71 to $80.36, reflecting modest year-to-date gains of approximately 9.6%. First-quarter 2026 earnings surpassed expectations with adjusted EPS of $1.13 versus $1.10 forecasted, supported by strong operational execution. Sentiment has been bolstered by a quarterly dividend declaration and infrastructure investments like new weather stations for faster storm recovery, though shares dipped slightly amid broader sector rotation. Lower beta (0.42) underscores its stability.
LNT Overview and Recent Performance
Alliant Energy Corporation (LNT), serving customers in Iowa and Wisconsin through Interstate Power and Light and Wisconsin Power and Light, focuses on regulated electric and gas utilities with an emphasis on clean energy transitions. Shares have hovered near $72 in recent market activity, within a 52-week range of $58.98 to $74.40, delivering year-to-date returns around 11.4% and one-year gains of about 17.6%. Trailing twelve-month revenue stood at $4.36 billion, with a recent quarterly dividend of $0.535 per share declared. Upcoming first-quarter earnings are anticipated positively, driven by customer base expansion and distribution investments. Analyst upgrades and raised price targets have supported sentiment, despite minor short-term pullbacks, with beta at 0.60 indicating slightly higher sensitivity to market moves.
Trending AI Robots
Tickeron's Trending AI Robots page showcases a curated selection of 25 top-performing AI trading bots from a library of over 350, tailored to current market conditions across thousands of tickers. These bots employ diverse strategies, including signal generation, virtual portfolio management, and brokerage integration for copy trading, with built-in risk controls. Featured agents vary in timeframes from short-term scalps to longer swings, offering real-time signals adaptable to equities like utilities. While specific performance stats such as win rates or drawdowns are highlighted for individual bots on their detail pages, the trending list emphasizes those demonstrating consistency in volatile environments. Traders can explore these tools to automate strategies matching their risk profiles—visit the page to discover options suited to stocks like CMS and LNT.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Both CMS and LNT operate similar regulated utility models, generating revenue from stable electric and gas distribution with growth from infrastructure and renewables. CMS edges in scale with higher revenue ($8.54 billion estimated) and market cap, lower price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio (trailing 21.6 vs. 23.0), and reduced volatility, suiting conservative income seekers. LNT counters with superior momentum—higher YTD and one-year returns—alongside expanding customer bases and recent analyst target hikes, potentially signaling stronger growth drivers. Risk factors include interest rate sensitivity common to utilities and regulatory shifts, but both maintain payout ratios around 60-65%. Sector exposure is nearly identical, with market sentiment leaning toward LNT for relative outperformance amid recent rotations.
Tickeron AI Verdict
Tickeron's AI tools, analyzing trend consistency and relative positioning, would likely favor LNT in the current environment due to its stronger momentum, higher year-to-date and one-year returns, and positive analyst revisions. CMS offers greater stability and scale, but LNT's catalysts like customer growth provide a probabilistic edge for near-term positioning.
Disclaimer
The information on this webpage is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, or an offer or solicitation related to investments. It does not consider your personal financial situation, goals, or risk profile, and all investing carries inherent risks, including the possibility of losing your entire investment. For more details, please review our full disclaimer. Disclaimers and Limitations
To compare these two companies we present long-term analysis, their fundamental ratings and make comparative short-term technical analysis which are presented below. The conclusion is CMS is a StrongBuy and LNT is a Buy.
Long-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a long-term outlook for a ticker by using Fundamental Analysis (FA) ratings. The rating of 1 to 100, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, is divided into thirds. The first third (a green rating of 1-33) indicates that the ticker is undervalued; the second third (a grey number between 34 and 66) means that the ticker is valued fairly; and the last third (red number of 67 to 100) reflects that the ticker is undervalued. We use an FA Score to show how many ratings show the ticker to be undervalued (green) or overvalued (red).
CMS’s FA Score shows that 0 FA rating(s) are green whileLNT’s FA Score has 1 green FA rating(s).
- CMS’s FA Score: 0 green, 5 red.
- LNT’s FA Score: 1 green, 4 red.
Short-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a short-term outlook for a ticker by using Technical Analysis (TA) indicators. We use Odds of Success as the percentage of outcomes which confirm successful trade signals in the past.
If the Odds of Success (the likelihood of the continuation of a trend) for each indicator are greater than 50%, then the generated signal is confirmed. A green percentage from 90% to 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bullish trend. A red percentage from 90% - 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bearish trend. All grey percentages are below 50% and are considered not to confirm the trend signal.
CMS’s TA Score shows that 4 TA indicator(s) are bullish while LNT’s TA Score has 5 bullish TA indicator(s).
- CMS’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 3 bearish.
- LNT’s TA Score: 5 bullish, 4 bearish.
Price Growth
CMS (@Electric Utilities) experienced а +3.54% price change this week, while LNT (@Electric Utilities) price change was +3.12% for the same time period.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Electric Utilities industry was +0.44%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was -0.40%, and the average quarterly price growth was +7.83%.
Reported Earning Dates
CMS is expected to report earnings on Jul 23, 2026.
LNT is expected to report earnings on Jul 30, 2026.
Industries' Descriptions
@Electric Utilities (+0.44% weekly)Electric utilities companies generate, transmit and distribute electricity to businesses/offices and residences. Companies may be owned by the government or investors or public shareholders, or a combination thereof. The industry also includes firms that buy and sell electricity. Companies in this industry typically require significant investments in infrastructure. Many firms in this industry pay substantial and regular dividends to shareholders. However, changes in interest rates (and their impact on debt burdens), natural disasters and changing commodity prices could be factors affecting energy utilities’ profit margins. NextEra Energy, Inc., Duke Energy Corporation, Dominion Energy Inc. and Southern Company are among U.S. electric utilities companies with the largest market capitalizations.
| CMS | LNT | CMS / LNT | |
| Capitalization | 22.5B | 18.8B | 120% |
| EBITDA | 3.4B | 2.03B | 168% |
| Gain YTD | 5.770 | 13.442 | 43% |
| P/E Ratio | 20.15 | 22.83 | 88% |
| Revenue | 8.82B | 4.42B | 200% |
| Total Cash | 175M | 115M | 152% |
| Total Debt | 19.1B | 11.8B | 162% |
CMS | LNT | ||
|---|---|---|---|
OUTLOOK RATING 1..100 | 26 | 89 | |
VALUATION overvalued / fair valued / undervalued 1..100 | 71 Overvalued | 68 Overvalued | |
PROFIT vs RISK RATING 1..100 | 45 | 27 | |
SMR RATING 1..100 | 64 | 67 | |
PRICE GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 52 | 37 | |
P/E GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 52 | 41 | |
SEASONALITY SCORE 1..100 | 50 | 50 |
Tickeron ratings are formulated such that a rating of 1 designates the most successful stocks in a given industry, while a rating of 100 points to the least successful stocks for that industry.
LNT's Valuation (68) in the Electric Utilities industry is in the same range as CMS (71). This means that LNT’s stock grew similarly to CMS’s over the last 12 months.
LNT's Profit vs Risk Rating (27) in the Electric Utilities industry is in the same range as CMS (45). This means that LNT’s stock grew similarly to CMS’s over the last 12 months.
CMS's SMR Rating (64) in the Electric Utilities industry is in the same range as LNT (67). This means that CMS’s stock grew similarly to LNT’s over the last 12 months.
LNT's Price Growth Rating (37) in the Electric Utilities industry is in the same range as CMS (52). This means that LNT’s stock grew similarly to CMS’s over the last 12 months.
LNT's P/E Growth Rating (41) in the Electric Utilities industry is in the same range as CMS (52). This means that LNT’s stock grew similarly to CMS’s over the last 12 months.
| CMS | LNT | |
|---|---|---|
| RSI ODDS (%) | N/A | N/A |
| Stochastic ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 54% | 2 days ago 60% |
| Momentum ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 43% | 2 days ago 40% |
| MACD ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 42% | 2 days ago 52% |
| TrendWeek ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 47% | 2 days ago 49% |
| TrendMonth ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 45% | 2 days ago 45% |
| Advances ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 49% | 2 days ago 51% |
| Declines ODDS (%) | 11 days ago 39% | 11 days ago 45% |
| BollingerBands ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 58% | 2 days ago 58% |
| Aroon ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 25% | 2 days ago 40% |
Advertisement
CMS and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, CMS has been closely correlated with DTE. These tickers have moved in lockstep 86% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if CMS jumps, then DTE could also see price increases.
LNT and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, LNT has been closely correlated with AEE. These tickers have moved in lockstep 86% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if LNT jumps, then AEE could also see price increases.