Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.4444.

LNT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays raised Alliant Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Alliant Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Finally, HSBC raised Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 103.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,292,000 after buying an additional 33,978 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 98.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,084,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,792,000 after acquiring an additional 538,603 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 18.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 21,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 6,269 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $71.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.66. Alliant Energy has a 52 week low of $57.09 and a 52 week high of $73.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 67.94%.

About Alliant Energy

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.