BUZZ-BMO changes PT on US utilities; says sector attractive but not expected to outperform

Reuters01-13

BUZZ-BMO changes PT on US utilities; says sector attractive but not expected to outperform

** Brokerage BMO Capital changes PT on several U.S.-based utilities; expects sector to remain attractive but not outperform the broader market in 2026

** Sees sector struggling without defensive demand, citing cyclical preference, modest EPS growth, regulatory risk and volatility

** Expects fundamentals to improve with better returns, low valuations and AI-driven demand

** "Similar to our 2025 outlook, we believe 2026 will once again be a stock picker’s market. However, this year, investors should maintain a more balanced and diversified set of exposures” - BMO Capital

** Raises rating for Alliant Energy Corp LNT.O to "outperform" from "market perform"; cites strong fundamentals, potential for multiple expansion in defensive markets and growth upside from AI-driven demand

** Raises rating for CenterPoint Energy CNP.N to "outperform" from "market perform"; cites strong growth visibility and execution certainty despite current premium

Brokerage changes PT on following companies:

Company	New PT	Old PT	Upside/Downside to stock's last close
Xcel Energy XEL.O	$86	$91	16.21% upside
WEC Energy WEC.N	$116	$119	10.47% upside
Southern Co SO.N	$95	$109	9.52% upside
Sempra SRE.N	$103	$99	15.6% upside
Duke Energy DUK.N	$130	$136	11.38% upside
Alliant Energy LNT.O	$71	$70	8.94% upside

(Reporting by Varun Sahay in Bengaluru)

((Varun.sahay@thomsonreuters.com))

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says sector attractive but not expected to outperform</title></head><body><p>** Brokerage BMO Capital changes PT on several U.S.-based utilities; expects sector to remain attractive but not outperform the broader market in 2026</p><p>** Sees sector struggling without defensive demand, citing cyclical preference, modest EPS growth, regulatory risk and volatility</p><p>** Expects fundamentals to improve with better returns, low valuations and AI-driven demand</p><p>** \"Similar to our 2025 outlook, we believe 2026 will once again be a stock picker’s market. However, this year, investors should maintain a more balanced and diversified set of exposures” - BMO Capital </p><p>** Raises rating for Alliant Energy Corp <span>LNT.O</span> to \"outperform\" from \"market perform\"; cites strong fundamentals, potential for multiple expansion in defensive markets and growth upside from AI-driven demand</p><p>** Raises rating for CenterPoint Energy <span>CNP.N</span> to \"outperform\" from \"market perform\"; cites strong growth visibility and execution certainty despite current premium </p><p>Brokerage changes PT on following companies:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Company</p></td><td><p>New PT</p></td><td><p>Old PT</p></td><td><p>Upside/Downside to stock's last close</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Xcel Energy <span>XEL.O</span> </p></td><td><p>$86</p></td><td><p>$91</p></td><td><p>16.21% upside</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>WEC Energy <span>WEC.N</span> </p></td><td><p>$116</p></td><td><p>$119</p></td><td><p>10.47% upside</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><a href=\"https://laohu8.com/S/SOJA\">Southern Co</a> <span>SO.N</span> </p></td><td><p>$95</p></td><td><p>$109</p></td><td><p>9.52% upside</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sempra <span>SRE.N</span> </p></td><td><p>$103</p></td><td><p>$99</p></td><td><p>15.6% upside</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Duke Energy <span>DUK.N</span> </p></td><td><p>$130</p></td><td><p>$136</p></td><td><p>11.38% upside</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Alliant Energy <span>LNT.O</span> </p></td><td><p>$71</p></td><td><p>$70</p></td><td><p>8.94% upside </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>(Reporting by Varun Sahay in Bengaluru)</p><p>((Varun.sahay@thomsonreuters.com))</p></body></html>\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"IE00BD4GTT62.SGD","symbol_name":"Legg Mason ClearBridge Infrastructure Value A SGD-H (mdis) plus","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://api.refinitiv.com/data/news/v1/stories/urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260113:nL4N3YE19D:1","article_id":"2603568728","we_media_id":"1032215980","thumbnails":[],"rights":null,"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2603568728","pubTimestamp":1768313008,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":null,"weMediaInfo":{"media_name":"Reuters","introduction":"Reuters.com brings you the latest news from around the world, covering breaking news in markets, business, politics, entertainment and technology","home_visible":1,"id":"1032215980","head_image":"https://community-static.tradeup.com/news/4567337cbdf294b657b1fa87c5488b48"},"summary":"BUZZ-BMO changes PT on US utilities; 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says sector attractive but not expected to outperform** Brokerage BMO Capital changes PT on several U.S.-based utilities; expects sector to remain attractive but not outperform the broader market in 2026** Sees sector struggling without defensive demand, citing cyclical preference, modest EPS growth, regulatory risk and volatility** Expects fundamentals to improve with better returns, low valuations and AI-driven demand** \"Similar to our 2025 outlook, we believe 2026 will once again be a stock picker’s market. However, this year, investors should maintain a more balanced and diversified set of exposures” - BMO Capital ** Raises rating for Alliant Energy Corp LNT.O to \"outperform\" from \"market perform\"; cites strong fundamentals, potential for multiple expansion in defensive markets and growth upside from AI-driven demand** Raises rating for CenterPoint Energy CNP.N to \"outperform\" from \"market perform\"; cites strong growth visibility and execution certainty despite current premium Brokerage changes PT on following companies:CompanyNew PTOld PTUpside/Downside to stock's last closeXcel Energy XEL.O $86$9116.21% upsideWEC Energy WEC.N $116$11910.47% upsideSouthern Co SO.N $95$1099.52% upsideSempra SRE.N $103$9915.6% upsideDuke Energy DUK.N $130$13611.38% upsideAlliant Energy LNT.O $71$708.94% upside (Reporting by Varun Sahay in Bengaluru)((Varun.sahay@thomsonreuters.com))","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":false,"code":"91000000","status":"200"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"tenantId":"TBGLOBAL","deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.36.0","shortVersion":"4.36.0","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2603568728","isCrawlerRequest":true}