Wells Fargo & Company Increases Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target to $62.00

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $56.00 to $62.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on LNT. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $53.88.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Alliant Energy stock opened at $55.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.56. Alliant Energy has a fifty-two week low of $45.15 and a fifty-two week high of $58.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.46.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $894.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliant Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,802,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,382,000 after buying an additional 1,948,485 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,579,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,205,000 after buying an additional 984,963 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 103.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,286,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,020,000 after acquiring an additional 654,460 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 14,057.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 577,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,084,000 after acquiring an additional 572,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Ridge Investment Management bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,804,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by 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.