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

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.95.

Several brokerages have issued reports on LNT. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays cut shares of Alliant Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, March 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Tsfg LLC acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $61.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.45 and a 200 day moving average of $61.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. Alliant Energy has a one year low of $49.25 and a one year high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 70.00%.

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.