Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.39.

A number of brokerages have commented on LNT. Barclays decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $62.81 on Monday. Alliant Energy has a one year low of $46.80 and a one year high of $64.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.71.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 196,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,915,000 after acquiring an additional 25,161 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,742,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,839,000 after acquiring an additional 101,387 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Alliant Energy by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,216,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,518,000 after buying an additional 14,225 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $257,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.