Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Announces $0.48 Quarterly Dividend

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 12th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st.

Alliant Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 6.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Alliant Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 58.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Alliant Energy to earn $3.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.7%.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $55.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $51.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.11. Alliant Energy has a fifty-two week low of $45.15 and a fifty-two week high of $56.79.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.62. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on LNT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.63.

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.