Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target Raised to $53.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price target boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays reissued an equal weight rating and set a $53.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $53.31.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ LNT opened at $48.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.46. Alliant Energy has a 12 month low of $45.15 and a 12 month high of $56.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.55.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 10.85%. The company had revenue of $961.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.06%.

Insider Activity at Alliant Energy

In other news, CEO Lisa M. Barton bought 1,100 shares of Alliant Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $48.56 per share, with a total value of $53,416.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,720.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,802,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,485 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 8.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,692,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,148 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 3.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,504,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,255,114,000 after purchasing an additional 799,601 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 289.7% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 976,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,302,000 after purchasing an additional 725,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 3,199.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 728,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,283,000 after purchasing an additional 706,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

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.