Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.1250.

Several research firms have weighed in on LNT. HSBC raised Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays raised shares of Alliant Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $71.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glenmede Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 0.7% in the third quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 22,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,536,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 9,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT opened at $66.69 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.89 and a 200-day moving average of $66.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. Alliant Energy has a 12-month low of $57.09 and a 12-month high of $69.75.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 12.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.30%.

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.