Brokerages Set Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Target Price at $63.39

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.25.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LNT. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,187,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,895 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,363,000 after buying an additional 771,919 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,225,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,201,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Alliant Energy by 8.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,260,000 after acquiring an additional 512,429 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $63.98 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Alliant Energy has a 1-year low of $46.80 and a 1-year high of $64.19. The company has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.5075 dividend. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.