Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $64.19 and last traded at $63.63, with a volume of 2362816 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.06.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.47 and its 200-day moving average is $56.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LNT. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $72,000. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,063,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $602,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,880,000 after acquiring an additional 92,525 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Company Profile

Alliant Energy Corporation operates as a utility holding company that provides regulated electricity and natural gas services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations, and Utility Other. The company, through its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), primarily generates and distributes electricity, and distributes and transports natural gas to retail customers in Iowa; sells electricity to wholesale customers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa; and generates and distributes steam in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.