BMO Capital Markets Increases Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target to $53.00

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $51.00 to $53.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.81% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on LNT. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.31.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT opened at $47.40 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Alliant Energy has a fifty-two week low of $45.15 and a fifty-two week high of $56.26.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 10.85%. The firm had revenue of $961.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alliant Energy

In other news, CEO Lisa M. Barton bought 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $48.56 per share, with a total value of $53,416.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 36,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,720.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,802,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,485 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 8.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,692,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,148 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,504,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,255,114,000 after purchasing an additional 799,601 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Alliant Energy by 289.7% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 976,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,302,000 after acquiring an additional 725,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Alliant Energy by 3,199.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 728,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,283,000 after acquiring an additional 706,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.