Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Receives $63.25 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.55.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank cut shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Alliant Energy stock opened at $63.05 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $16.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. Alliant Energy has a twelve month low of $47.23 and a twelve month high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 75.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliant Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 251.2% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

About Alliant Energy

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.