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

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.39.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank cut 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT opened at $59.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.78 and a 200 day moving average of $57.41. The company has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.59. Alliant Energy has a 12-month low of $46.80 and a 12-month high of $64.19. 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 (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $42,367,000. Eagle Ridge Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,804,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,260,000 after purchasing an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 698.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,400,000 after buying an additional 394,920 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the third quarter worth $10,705,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.