Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $72.25 and last traded at $71.10, with a volume of 2725649 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC raised shares of Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Alliant Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.13.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.45.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $0.535 dividend. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 67.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Alliant Energy by 799.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,393,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,662,000 after purchasing an additional 7,460,117 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 802.8% in the third quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,553,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,735,000 after buying an additional 1,381,593 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy during the second quarter worth about $82,265,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,057,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278,166 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,614,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063,268 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Alliant Energy

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.