Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.55.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliant Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 517.0% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

LNT stock opened at $63.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.63. Alliant Energy has a fifty-two week low of $47.23 and a fifty-two week high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.46%.

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.