Please be careful when comparing strings with floats, especally when you are using the , as decimal.
<?php
var_dump($alt);
var_dump($neu);
var_dump($alt == $neu);
?>
string(9) "590217,73"
float(590217,73)
bool(false)
not the float is cast to a string and then string-compared, but the string is cast to a float and then float-compared.
to compare as strings use strval!
<?php
var_dump(strval($alt));
var_dump(strval($neu));
var_dump(strval($alt) == strval($neu));
?>
string(9) "590217,73"
string(9) "590217,73"
bool(true)