Brokerages Set Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target at $75.44

Shares of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.4444.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. HSBC raised Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on Alliant Energy from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Friday, January 9th.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT opened at $72.45 on Tuesday. Alliant Energy has a 12-month low of $57.09 and a 12-month high of $73.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.95. The company has a market capitalization of $18.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 18.57%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LNT. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 799.3% during 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% during the 3rd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,553,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381,593 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $82,265,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,057,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,614,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063,268 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Company Profile

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.