Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.95.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on Alliant Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays lowered Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Tsfg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,793,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,733. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $15.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.57. Alliant Energy has a fifty-two week low of $49.25 and a fifty-two week high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is 70.00%.

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.