Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.06.

LNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Alliant Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,691,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,847,000 after buying an additional 65,110 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Alliant Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,880,000 after buying an additional 92,525 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Alliant Energy by 8.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,260,000 after buying an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,216,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,518,000 after purchasing an additional 14,225 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,756,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,408,000 after purchasing an additional 29,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $60.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.98. Alliant Energy has a one year low of $46.80 and a one year high of $64.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.59.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Alliant Energy’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

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.