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

Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.55.

LNT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank cut shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:LNT opened at $62.10 on Friday. Alliant Energy has a 52-week low of $47.23 and a 52-week high of $66.54. The company has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.60.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 64,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 15,232 shares during the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $257,000. Columbia River Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth $456,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,206,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.