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Investors in Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) have made a respectable return of 82% over the past five years

The main point of investing for the long term is to make money. Furthermore, you'd generally like to see the share price rise faster than the market. But Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) has fallen short of that second goal, with a share price rise of 57% over five years, which is below the market return. The last year hasn't been great either, with the stock up just 1.4%.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

See our latest analysis for Alliant Energy

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

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Over half a decade, Alliant Energy managed to grow its earnings per share at 7.4% a year. This EPS growth is slower than the share price growth of 9% per year, over the same period. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

earnings-per-share-growth
earnings-per-share-growth

Dive deeper into Alliant Energy's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Alliant Energy's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Alliant Energy the TSR over the last 5 years was 82%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Alliant Energy provided a TSR of 4.4% over the last twelve months. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, the longer term returns (running at about 13% a year, over half a decade) look better. It's quite possible the business continues to execute with prowess, even as the share price gains are slowing. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Alliant Energy better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Alliant Energy you should know about.

We will like Alliant Energy better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.