Alliant Energy Co. (LNT) To Go Ex-Dividend on July 31st

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 12th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st.

Alliant Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Alliant Energy has a payout ratio of 58.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Alliant Energy to earn $3.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.7%.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT opened at $55.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.67 and a 200-day moving average of $50.07. The company has a market cap of $14.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.56. Alliant Energy has a one year low of $45.15 and a one year high of $56.79.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.62. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.53% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.63.

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.