Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.55.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LNT shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Alliant Energy by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 64,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 15,232 shares during the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 927 shares during the period. LifeWealth Investments LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $257,000. Columbia River Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $456,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,206,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT opened at $63.12 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.63. 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 has a 1 year low of $47.23 and a 1 year high of $66.54. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released 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. The firm 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%. Analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.46%.

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.