Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) Receives $74.50 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $74.50.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. HSBC upgraded Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group set a $75.00 target price on Alliant Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $71.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.66. Alliant Energy has a 52-week low of $57.09 and a 52-week high of $72.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.535 per share. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 799.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,393,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,662,000 after acquiring an additional 7,460,117 shares in the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 802.8% in the 3rd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,553,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381,593 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $82,265,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,057,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,614,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063,268 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Company Profile

Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: LNT) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, that provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services in the American Midwest. The company serves customers primarily in Wisconsin and Iowa through its regulated utility subsidiaries and operates as an integrated provider responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Alliant Energy’s core activities include operating and maintaining electric generation assets, managing the regional transmission and distribution network, and delivering natural gas service to its franchise territories.